National Bank of Canada FI Purchases 1,597,876 Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST)

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) by 301.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,128,173 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,597,876 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.30% of Host Hotels & Resorts worth $41,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HST. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Host Hotels & Resorts by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 50,275,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $807,923,000 after buying an additional 6,719,578 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments bought a new stake in Host Hotels & Resorts in the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,664,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY purchased a new position in Host Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter worth about $38,873,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Host Hotels & Resorts in the third quarter worth about $28,456,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in shares of Host Hotels & Resorts by 36.1% in the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 5,971,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,874 shares during the last quarter. 98.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James F. Risoleo sold 28,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total transaction of $591,981.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,225,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,826,140.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. UBS Group cut their target price on Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Host Hotels & Resorts from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Bank of America upgraded Host Hotels & Resorts from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $18.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.29.

Host Hotels & Resorts Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:HST traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $18.82. The company had a trading volume of 1,635,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,008,715. The company has a market cap of $13.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 6.66, a quick ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.92 and a 1 year high of $21.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $20.11 and a 200 day moving average of $19.03.

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 10.59% and a net margin of 13.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Host Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. This is an increase from Host Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is 78.43%.

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.