JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Stock Position in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) by 31.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,775,533 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,130,558 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors were worth $49,284,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SHO. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,247,927 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $54,169,000 after purchasing an additional 109,327 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,081,978 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,126,000 after buying an additional 117,390 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,818,270 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,479,000 after buying an additional 51,203 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,651,189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,731,000 after acquiring an additional 25,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 368.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,767,636 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,489,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,917 shares during the period. 99.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SHO. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sunstone Hotel Investors currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.17.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE SHO opened at $11.79 on Friday. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.39 and a 52 week high of $12.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $11.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 1.25.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.02). Sunstone Hotel Investors had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 18.61%. The firm had revenue of $226.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $224.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s payout ratio is 44.74%.

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.