Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 466,524 shares of the company’s stock after selling 183,389 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts were worth $8,351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,243,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $912,056,000 after buying an additional 950,431 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,902,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,698,000 after purchasing an additional 180,904 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 66.9% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 13,637,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,017,000 after acquiring an additional 5,466,629 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 1.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,300,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,296,000 after acquiring an additional 181,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 11.7% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,189,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,218,000 after acquiring an additional 965,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Compass Point upgraded shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $22.00 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Host Hotels & Resorts currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.39.

Host Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

NASDAQ HST opened at $18.20 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $18.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $12.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67 and a beta of 1.32. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.71 and a 12 month high of $21.31.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.24). Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 12.92%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.67%.

Host Hotels & Resorts 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.