Barclays Boosts Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) Price Target to $25.00

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) had its target price boosted by Barclays from $23.00 to $25.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

HST has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James upped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group dropped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $21.13.

Host Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

Shares of HST traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $20.65. 8,575,694 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,506,007. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.10. Host Hotels & Resorts has a 52-week low of $14.51 and a 52-week high of $21.31. The company has a market cap of $14.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 3.29 and a current ratio of 3.29.

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

Host Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Host Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Nathan S. Tyrrell sold 14,193 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.78, for a total transaction of $280,737.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 441,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,731,683.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Host Hotels & Resorts news, VP Nathan S. Tyrrell sold 14,193 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.78, for a total value of $280,737.54. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 441,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,731,683.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James F. Risoleo sold 11,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.84, for a total transaction of $231,493.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,758,686 shares in the company, valued at $34,892,330.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 37,861 shares of company stock worth $750,071 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Host Hotels & Resorts

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HST. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 82,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,613,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 21,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 639 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 67,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 238,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,636,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

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.