Investors Purchase High Volume of Host Hotels & Resorts Call Options (NASDAQ:HST)

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors bought 2,511 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 93% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,303 call options.

Host Hotels & Resorts Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of HST stock opened at $17.26 on Friday. Host Hotels & Resorts has a fifty-two week low of $15.71 and a fifty-two week high of $21.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.71. The stock has a market cap of $12.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 4.55, a current ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.24). Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Host Hotels & Resorts will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Compass Point raised shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lowered their price target 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. StockNews.com downgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial lowered 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.21.

Institutional Trading of Host Hotels & Resorts

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HST. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 3.0% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 19,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Host Hotels & Resorts by 6.3% in the second quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 10,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 4.9% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 784 shares in the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

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.