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

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 2,608 put options on the company. This is an increase of 497% compared to the typical volume of 437 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Host Hotels & Resorts news, CEO James F. Risoleo sold 28,136 shares of Host Hotels & Resorts stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total transaction of $591,981.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,225,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,826,140.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Host Hotels & Resorts

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HST. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $615,558,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew 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 acquiring an additional 6,719,578 shares during the period. PGGM Investments purchased a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter worth approximately $57,664,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY purchased a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,873,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the third quarter worth approximately $28,456,000. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Bank of America upgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Host Hotels & Resorts has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.33.

Host Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.17. 1,175,738 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,915,618. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.27 and a 200 day moving average of $18.86. Host Hotels & Resorts has a fifty-two week low of $14.92 and a fifty-two week high of $21.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. Host Hotels & Resorts’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Host Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is 76.92%.

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.