LaSalle Hotel Properties (LHO) Rating Lowered to Sell at Citigroup

LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE:LHO) was downgraded by equities researchers at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $25.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 11.50% from the stock’s previous close.

LHO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of LaSalle Hotel Properties from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 24th. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of LaSalle Hotel Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $31.00 price target on shares of LaSalle Hotel Properties and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 25th. BidaskClub cut shares of LaSalle Hotel Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 25th. Finally, UBS cut shares of LaSalle Hotel Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the stock. LaSalle Hotel Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.37.

LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE LHO) traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $28.25. 1,978,259 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,281,619. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 3.22. The company has a market cap of $3,203.33, a PE ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.11. LaSalle Hotel Properties has a 52 week low of $27.44 and a 52 week high of $31.87.

LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE:LHO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.46). The company had revenue of $285.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $295.02 million. LaSalle Hotel Properties had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 18.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. sell-side analysts anticipate that LaSalle Hotel Properties will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

In related news, COO Alfred L. Young sold 17,750 shares of LaSalle Hotel Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.28, for a total value of $501,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 88,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,511,490.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LHO. First Mercantile Trust Co. grew its stake in LaSalle Hotel Properties by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Mercantile Trust Co. now owns 3,790 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Ffcm LLC grew its stake in LaSalle Hotel Properties by 150.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ffcm LLC now owns 4,074 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 2,445 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in LaSalle Hotel Properties by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,577 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in LaSalle Hotel Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $174,000. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in LaSalle Hotel Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $212,000.

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LaSalle Hotel Properties Company Profile

LaSalle Hotel Properties is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust. The Company primarily buys, owns, redevelops and leases upscale and luxury full-service hotels located in convention, resort and urban business markets. As of December 31, 2016, the Company owned interests in 46 hotels with approximately 11,450 guest rooms located in nine states of the United States and the District of Columbia (DC).