42,700 Shares in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 42,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $831,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HST. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 57.5% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 639 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 186.1% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,537 shares during the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Raymond James upped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Bank of America upgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $18.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Host Hotels & Resorts currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.33.

Insider Transactions at Host Hotels & Resorts

In related news, CEO James F. Risoleo sold 28,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total value of $591,981.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,225,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,826,140.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Host Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HST opened at $18.86 on Friday. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.92 and a 1-year high of $21.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.24 and a 200-day moving average of $18.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 3.29 and a quick ratio of 3.29. The company has a market capitalization of $13.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.31.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.25). Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 13.93%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. Host Hotels & Resorts’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from Host Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.92%.

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.