Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases New Position in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. $SHO

Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (NYSE:SHO) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 178,472 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,608,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Sunstone Hotel Investors as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tributary Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 1,537,256 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,743,000 after buying an additional 191,403 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,408,676 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,474,000 after acquiring an additional 389,210 shares during the period. Centersquare Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 1,517,366 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,565,000 after acquiring an additional 119,290 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 598,257 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,353,000 after acquiring an additional 112,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in Sunstone Hotel Investors by 99.7% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 211,528 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,906,000 after acquiring an additional 105,629 shares in the last quarter. 99.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on SHO. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sunstone Hotel Investors has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.67.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Stock Performance

Shares of Sunstone Hotel Investors stock opened at $11.72 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of 106.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.97. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.16. Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. has a one year low of $8.48 and a one year high of $12.07.

Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) last released 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. The business had revenue of $259.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $244.29 million. Sunstone Hotel Investors had a net margin of 3.84% and a return on equity of 2.27%. The company’s revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. Research analysts expect that Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. will post 0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sunstone Hotel Investors

In other Sunstone Hotel Investors news, insider Robert C. Springer sold 89,631 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 573,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,666,893.66. This trade represents a 13.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sunstone Hotel Investors 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.