Host Hotels & Resorts To Repurchase Up To Addl $500 Mln Of Common Stock

(RTTNews) - Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (HST) said that its Board authorized a second program to repurchase up to an additional $500 million of common stock. The company expects that RevPAR growth in the fourth quarter will be driven by several of the Company's west coast properties, as well as strong performances in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and Florida markets.

The company now expects earnings per share to be in the range of $0.68 to $0.70 for 2015. The company said in September that it expected earnings per share of $0.69 to $0.71 for 2015.

For 2015, the company still expects adjusted FFO per share to be in the range of $1.50 to $1.52, FFO per share of $1.44 to $1.46 and adjusted EBITDA of $1.385 billion to $1.400 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $1.51 per share for fiscal year 2015. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Including the approximately $100 million remaining under the repurchase program announced in April 2015, the Company currently has $600 million of repurchase capacity.

Year-to-date, the Company has repurchased 21.7 million shares at an average price of $18.45 for a total purchase price of approximately $400 million. During the third quarter and through early October, the Company repurchased 15.2 million shares at an average price of $17.76 for a total purchase price of $269 million.

The Company paid a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per share on its common stock on October 15, 2015 to stockholders of record as of September 30, 2015.