IRVINE, Calif. (AP) _ Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. (SHO) on Tuesday reported a key measure of profitability in its fourth quarter. The results beat Wall Street expectations.

The Irvine, California-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $59 million, or 26 cents per share, in the period.

The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of 24 cents per share.

Funds from operations is a closely watched measure in the REIT industry. It takes net income and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization.

The company said it had net income of $41.2 million, or 18 cents per share.

The hotel real estate investment trust, based in Irvine, California, posted revenue of $273 million in the period, also beating Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $265.2 million.

For the year, the company reported funds from operations of $254 million. Revenue was reported as $1.12 billion.

For the current quarter ending in April, Sunstone Hotel expects its per-share funds from operations to range from 16 cents to 18 cents.

The company expects full-year funds from operations in the range of 95 cents to $1.05 per share.

The company's shares have decreased 4% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Tuesday, shares hit $13.34, a drop of roughly 9% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on SHO at https://www.zacks.com/ap/SHO

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News