Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 942,822 Shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) by 69.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 424,239 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 942,822 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.21% of Sunstone Hotel Investors worth $4,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 6.2% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 20,805 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,215 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 294,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 31,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 1,635 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 17,479 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $184,000 after buying an additional 1,881 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 34.8% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,510 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,937 shares during the last quarter. 99.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors stock opened at $10.05 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $10.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.25. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.39 and a 52-week high of $11.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 3.75.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last posted its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $226.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $224.61 million. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 18.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued 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 3.58%. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s payout ratio is presently 42.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SHO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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 research note on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.42.

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.