Lazard Asset Management LLC Invests $1.61 Million in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. $SHO

Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 178,472 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,608,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHO. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in the second quarter worth about $41,332,000. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors during the third quarter worth about $44,295,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 86.8% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,369,789 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,006,000 after buying an additional 2,495,914 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 1,899.5% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,244,427 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $20,222,000 after buying an additional 2,132,180 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 132.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,787,519 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,231,000 after buying an additional 1,589,258 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sunstone Hotel Investors

In other news, insider Robert C. Springer sold 89,631 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.62, for a total value of $1,041,512.22. Following the transaction, the insider owned 573,743 shares in the company, valued at $6,666,893.66. This trade represents a 13.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Down 0.4%

SHO stock opened at $11.72 on Tuesday. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.48 and a 52 week high of $12.07. The company has a quick ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 3.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.97.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 3.84% and a return on equity of 2.27%. The firm had revenue of $259.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.29 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.21 EPS. Sunstone Hotel Investors’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on SHO. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Zacks Research cut shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a report on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.67.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Company Profile

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc (NYSE:SHO) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on acquiring, owning and asset‐managing upper‐upscale extended‐stay and premium‐branded hotel properties in the United States. The company’s business model centers on generating stable, long‐term cash flows through franchise agreements and third‐party management contracts with established hotel operators.

As of the most recent reporting period, Sunstone’s portfolio includes approximately 97 hotels and nearly 25,000 guest rooms across 19 states, with concentrations in major metropolitan and select high‐growth secondary markets.