RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.15

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 1st, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from RLJ Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10.

RLJ Lodging Trust has a dividend payout ratio of 153.8% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect RLJ Lodging Trust to earn $1.50 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.7%.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 0.3 %

RLJ Lodging Trust stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $9.22. The stock had a trading volume of 3,422,351 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,457,511. RLJ Lodging Trust has a twelve month low of $8.84 and a twelve month high of $12.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of 32.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 2.81. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.81.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on RLJ. StockNews.com lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, RLJ Lodging Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.07.

About RLJ Lodging Trust

RLJ Lodging Trust is a self-advised, publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns primarily premium-branded, high-margin, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. The Company's portfolio currently consists of 96 hotels with approximately 21,200 rooms, located in 23 states and the District of Columbia and an ownership interest in one unconsolidated hotel with 171 rooms.