Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.09 (NYSE:SHO)

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.09 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, October 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th.

Sunstone Hotel Investors has raised its dividend by an average of 0.5%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 2 years. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a dividend payout ratio of 189.5% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Sunstone Hotel Investors to earn $0.98 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.7%.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Performance

Shares of SHO traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $11.30. 2,544,915 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,187,494. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a current ratio of 3.42. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $11.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.97. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a 12 month low of $8.61 and a 12 month high of $12.07.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a return on equity of 2.27% and a net margin of 3.84%.The firm had revenue of $259.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Sunstone Hotel Investors will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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