Citigroup Inc. Lowers Stake in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Citigroup Inc. cut its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 838,822 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,558 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $14,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HST. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 212.7% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,002 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 44.5% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the second quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the second quarter worth about $56,000. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Host Hotels & Resorts Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ HST opened at $18.43 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.67. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.71 and a 52 week high of $21.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $12.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.89, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Host Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.32.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

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.