Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,770,000 shares, a growth of 20.6% from the June 30th total of 10,590,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,680,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.6 days. Currently, 6.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Performance

Shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors stock traded up $0.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $10.40. 1,848,259 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,244,260. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a 1 year low of $8.61 and a 1 year high of $11.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.56, a PEG ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 8.17 and a quick ratio of 8.17.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.11). Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 20.69% and a return on equity of 10.75%. The company had revenue of $217.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.00 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Sunstone Hotel Investors will post 0.9 EPS for the current year.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. This is a boost from Sunstone Hotel Investors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on SHO shares. Robert W. Baird raised Sunstone Hotel Investors from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Baird R W raised shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Wolfe Research raised Sunstone Hotel Investors from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $12.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Sunstone Hotel Investors from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Sunstone Hotel Investors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.75.

Institutional Trading of Sunstone Hotel Investors

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY purchased a new position in Sunstone Hotel Investors in the second quarter worth about $303,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 8,623.5% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,515 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 11,383 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in the second quarter worth approximately $157,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 0.3% during the second quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 1,333,353 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,947,000 after buying an additional 3,726 shares during the period. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors during the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors own 99.37% of the company’s stock.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Company Profile

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.