Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC Purchases 1,123,001 Shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO)

Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC increased its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) by 976.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,238,002 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,123,001 shares during the period. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC owned approximately 0.61% of Sunstone Hotel Investors worth $12,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SHO. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 294,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 5.5% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 31,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,635 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 12.1% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 17,479 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,881 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,510 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 36,571 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, 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 report on Friday, September 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.42.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Price Performance

NYSE:SHO opened at $10.77 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.26. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.39 and a 52 week high of $11.59. The stock has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17, a P/E/G ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.02). Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 18.61% and a return on equity of 9.04%. The business had revenue of $226.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $224.61 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.11%.

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.