HST - Host Hotels & Resorts Analysis

Overview: Host Hotels & Resorts is a hotel and resort REIT currently trading at $20.85 with a market cap of $14.5 billion. The stock has shown solid momentum with a 12.1% gain over the past month and 19.1% year-to-date.

ORTEX Stock Scores: HST demonstrates strong scores across multiple dimensions:

• Total Score: 91.3/100 (excellent)
• Momentum Score: 88.1/100 (very strong - trending upward)
• Growth Score: 73.6/100 (solid)
• Quality Score: 69.6/100 (good)
• Value Score: 68.4/100 (reasonable)

The high total score of 91.3 places HST in the top tier, with particularly impressive momentum as the stock has rallied recently.

Short Interest Metrics:

• SI % of Free Float: 4.80% (moderate)
• Cost to Borrow: 0.50% (very low - easy to short)
• Days to Cover: 0.71 days (low - shorts can cover quickly)
• Availability: 8,705% of SI (abundant shares available)
• Utilization: 1.16% (very low)
• Short Score: 38.2/100 (below average)

Short interest increased 24.8% over the past month from ~24.7M shares to ~30.8M shares, though it remains relatively modest as a percentage of float. The extremely low cost to borrow and high availability indicate no supply constraints for borrowing shares.

Fundamentals:

• Revenue: $6.07 billion (TTM)
• EBITDA: $1.77 billion
• Net Income: $720 million
• EPS: $1.08
• EV/EBITDA: 10.0x (reasonable for a REIT)
• Net Debt: $3.64 billion
• Operating Cash Flow: $1.52 billion
• CapEx: $577 million

Options Sentiment:

• Put/Call Ratio: 0.96 (slightly bearish tilt)
• PCR 20-day Average: 0.87
• Z-Score: +0.30 (slightly elevated puts vs recent average)

The PCR has risen from around 0.39 in late March to 0.96 currently, suggesting growing hedging activity or bearish positioning.

Technical Indicators:

• RSI (14): 67.08 (approaching overbought but not extreme)
• YTD Performance: +19.12%

Upcoming Events:

• Next Earnings: April 29, 2026 (Q1 2026 results)

Analyst Outlook:

• Consensus Return Potential: 2.98% upside to price targets
• Dividend Yield: 6.39% (attractive income)

Summary: Host Hotels & Resorts shows strong fundamental and technical momentum with an excellent ORTEX total score of 91.3. The REIT has delivered solid returns YTD while offering an attractive 6.39% dividend yield. Short interest has increased notably over the past month but remains moderate, and with extremely low borrowing costs and abundant availability, there's no supply squeeze pressure. The elevated put/call ratio suggests some caution heading into Q1 earnings on April 29th. Overall, the data points to a fundamentally sound REIT with strong momentum, though the technical indicators suggest it may be nearing overbought territory in the near term.

This is not financial advice. ORTEX data should be used as part of broader investment research.