AGF Management Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 120,984 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,795 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $2,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC increased its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 14,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 2,995 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,899,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,554,000 after buying an additional 2,261,877 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 65.8% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,353,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,719,000 after buying an additional 537,411 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $657,000. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,542,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,089,000 after buying an additional 625,317 shares during the period. 98.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Compass Point downgraded shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.21.

Host Hotels & Resorts Trading Up 2.7 %

NASDAQ:HST opened at $14.91 on Friday. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.47 and a 12 month high of $21.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.06 and a beta of 1.30.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 10.37%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.37%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.81%.

Host Hotels & Resorts Company 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.