Nicola Wealth Management LTD. Makes New Investment in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO)

Nicola Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 91,924 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SHO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 442.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 2,448 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 114.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,271 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,510 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 55.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 3,249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.71.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SHO opened at $10.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.20. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.39 and a 1 year high of $12.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.91.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $214.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.17 million. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 18.61%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 257.14%.

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.