Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stock Position in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) by 0.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,993,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,485 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 4.34% of Sunstone Hotel Investors worth $88,855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 168.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,065 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 56.5% during the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,257 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 1,537 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the 1st quarter valued at about $91,000. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the 4th quarter valued at about $94,000. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The purchased a new stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the 1st quarter valued at about $99,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Compass Point decreased their target price on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $9.50 to $11.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 25th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a research report on Saturday, August 19th. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $9.86.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Price Performance

Shares of SHO stock opened at $8.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.82. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a one year low of $8.60 and a one year high of $11.62.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.12). Sunstone Hotel Investors had a return on equity of 5.64% and a net margin of 10.13%. The company had revenue of $276.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.58 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 28th. This is an increase from Sunstone Hotel Investors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.62%.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Profile

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc is a lodging real estate investment trust ("REIT") that as of the date of this release owns 15 hotels comprised of 7,735 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 hotels considered to be Long-Term Relevant Real Estate.