New England Research & Management Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 19,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HST. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 537.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,893,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,318,000 after purchasing an additional 5,811,722 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 13,637,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,017,000 after buying an additional 5,466,629 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 155.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,610,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,305,000 after buying an additional 3,412,589 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 92.9% during the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 2,764,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,652,000 after buying an additional 1,331,407 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,243,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $912,056,000 after buying an additional 950,431 shares during the period. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Down 2.7 %

HST opened at $16.59 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $17.85 and a 200-day moving average of $17.59. 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 capitalization of $11.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 1.31. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.71 and a 1-year high of $21.31.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last issued 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 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.82%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s payout ratio is 77.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Compass Point upgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $18.00 to $22.00 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.96.

Host Hotels & Resorts Profile

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the management of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Brazil, and Canada. The company was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.