RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $12.25.

Several equities analysts have commented on RLJ shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. 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 note on Tuesday, June 11th. Compass Point cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE RLJ opened at $9.89 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.18. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52 week low of $8.79 and a 52 week high of $12.39. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.32, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.25). The business had revenue of $369.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.67 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.34% and a net margin of 4.93%. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from RLJ Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.07%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is currently 214.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RLJ. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,435 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 3,648 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 98,362 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 7,267 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $11,996,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,316,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,426,000 after purchasing an additional 9,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $258,000. Institutional investors own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

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.