Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.18 Per Share

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 14th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Saturday, September 30th will be given a dividend of 0.18 per share on Monday, October 16th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.43%. This is a boost from Host Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15.

Host Hotels & Resorts has decreased its dividend by an average of 25.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Host Hotels & Resorts has a dividend payout ratio of 67.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Host Hotels & Resorts to earn $1.86 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.3%.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

HST opened at $16.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 6.57 and a quick ratio of 6.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $16.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.77. Host Hotels & Resorts has a 1 year low of $14.51 and a 1 year high of $19.42. The stock has a market cap of $11.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 1.30.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.27). Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 11.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Host Hotels & Resorts

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 98.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 210,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,546,000 after buying an additional 104,142 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts during the second quarter worth about $52,000. National Pension Service boosted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 28.9% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 448,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,487,000 after buying an additional 100,511 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 15.5% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 402,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,778,000 after buying an additional 54,079 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 136.1% during the second quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 46,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $785,000 after buying an additional 26,900 shares during the period. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on HST shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $15.50 to $15.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $18.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Host Hotels & Resorts has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.39.

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 41,900 rooms.