Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.09 (NYSE:SHO)

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.09 per share by the real estate investment trust on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st.

Sunstone Hotel Investors has raised its dividend by an average of 68.7% annually over the last three years. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a dividend payout ratio of 133.3% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect Sunstone Hotel Investors to earn $0.97 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.1%.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of SHO traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $10.44. 3,007,017 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,046,711. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $10.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.25. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 3.75, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a 12 month low of $9.39 and a 12 month high of $11.59.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.02). Sunstone Hotel Investors had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 18.61%. The business had revenue of $226.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $224.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Sunstone Hotel Investors will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SHO shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $10.50 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.42.

About Sunstone Hotel Investors

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc is a lodging real estate investment trust ("REIT") that as of the date of this release owns 14 hotels comprised of 6,675 rooms, the majority of which are operated under nationally recognized brands. Sunstone's strategy is to create long-term stakeholder value through the acquisition, active ownership, and disposition of well-located hotel and resort real estate.