RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $10.92.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on RLJ shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Down 0.8 %

RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $9.92 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.20 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.74. RLJ Lodging Trust has a one year low of $8.74 and a one year high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $345.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $342.93 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.05%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 206.90%.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 34.9% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,051 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 389,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,576,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 225,738 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 192,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 197.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 3,627 shares during the period. 92.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.