RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird decreased 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. Bank of America decreased 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. Finally, Compass Point lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $12.69.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

Shares of RLJ traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $9.09. The company had a trading volume of 1,936,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,336,619. RLJ Lodging Trust has a twelve month low of $8.80 and a twelve month high of $12.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $9.60 and its 200-day moving average is $10.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.70.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.25). RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.34% and a net margin of 4.93%. The company had revenue of $369.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $365.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from RLJ Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 142.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 18,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 27,568 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,903 shares during the last quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC raised its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 64,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $764,000 after buying an additional 2,015 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 107,116 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,267,000 after buying an additional 2,071 shares during the period. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by 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.