Host Hotels & Resorts Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:HST)

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 2,511 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 93% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,303 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on HST shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group cut their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Host Hotels & Resorts currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.21.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

NASDAQ HST opened at $17.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 2.90 and a quick ratio of 4.55. The company has a market cap of $12.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $17.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.70. Host Hotels & Resorts has a 1-year low of $15.71 and a 1-year high of $21.31.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HST. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 645.5% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 64,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 55,775 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 1,888,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,037,000 after purchasing an additional 84,687 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 9.4% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 644,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,344,000 after purchasing an additional 55,654 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 23.9% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 204,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,224,000 after buying an additional 39,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 854.3% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 319,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,750,000 after buying an additional 286,281 shares during the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Host Hotels & Resorts Company Profile

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is an S&P 500 company and is the largest lodging real estate investment trust and one of the largest owners of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. The Company currently owns 72 properties in the United States and five properties internationally totaling approximately 42,000 rooms.