Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.30 EPS

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.30, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 16.51% and a return on equity of 15.53%. Host Hotels & Resorts’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share.

Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Up 1.4%

NASDAQ HST traded up $0.35 on Wednesday, reaching $26.13. The company had a trading volume of 12,452,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,325,201. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 2.96 and a quick ratio of 2.96. Host Hotels & Resorts has a 1 year low of $16.02 and a 1 year high of $26.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.12 and a 200-day moving average of $22.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.09.

Host Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. Host Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HST. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Host Hotels & Resorts from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Host Hotels & Resorts from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nathan Tyrrell sold 63,882 shares of Host Hotels & Resorts stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.13, for a total transaction of $1,477,590.66. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 618,207 shares in the company, valued at $14,299,127.91. This trade represents a 9.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc is a self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust that owns and operates a portfolio of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. The company’s properties are generally located in high-demand business and leisure destinations and include full-service hotels, resorts and convention-oriented lodging facilities.

Host Hotels typically invests in hotel real estate while relying on hotel management companies and major hospitality brands to operate its properties.