Investors Buy Large Volume of Host Hotels & Resorts Put Options (NASDAQ:HST)

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 2,608 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 497% compared to the typical daily volume of 437 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James F. Risoleo sold 28,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total value of $591,981.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,225,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,826,140.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Host Hotels & Resorts

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HST. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter worth $615,558,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 15.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 50,275,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $807,923,000 after buying an additional 6,719,578 shares during the period. PGGM Investments acquired a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the fourth quarter valued at $57,664,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY acquired a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the fourth quarter valued at $38,873,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts during the third quarter valued at $28,456,000. 98.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

Host Hotels & Resorts stock opened at $19.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $13.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $20.28 and a 200-day moving average of $18.88. Host Hotels & Resorts has a 52 week low of $14.92 and a 52 week high of $21.31.

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

Host Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Host Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on HST. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Host Hotels & Resorts presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.33.

Host Hotels & Resorts Company Profile

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.