LaSalle Hotel Properties (LHO) Lowered to “Underperform” at Bank of America

LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE:LHO) was downgraded by equities researchers at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. TheStreet downgraded shares of LaSalle Hotel Properties from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Friday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of LaSalle Hotel Properties from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 23rd. Boenning Scattergood reissued a “hold” rating on shares of LaSalle Hotel Properties in a research report on Monday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $30.00 target price on shares of LaSalle Hotel Properties and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 23rd. Finally, Zacks Investment Research raised shares of LaSalle Hotel Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.92.

LaSalle Hotel Properties (LHO) traded up $0.21 on Monday, reaching $28.31. 1,055,300 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 945,550. LaSalle Hotel Properties has a 12-month low of $27.44 and a 12-month high of $31.87. The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3,170.00, a P/E ratio of 17.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11.

LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE:LHO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 18.10% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. analysts forecast that LaSalle Hotel Properties will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In related news, COO Alfred L. Young sold 17,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.28, for a total transaction of $501,970.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 88,808 shares in the company, valued at $2,511,490.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in LaSalle Hotel Properties by 4.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,095,440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $598,844,000 after acquiring an additional 844,043 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in LaSalle Hotel Properties by 3.2% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,874,256 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $443,254,000 after acquiring an additional 456,149 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in LaSalle Hotel Properties by 3.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,768,908 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $171,921,000 after acquiring an additional 189,034 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in LaSalle Hotel Properties by 6.8% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,834,897 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $144,080,000 after acquiring an additional 307,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in LaSalle Hotel Properties by 8.6% in the second quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,336,299 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $129,222,000 after acquiring an additional 344,154 shares during the last quarter.

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About LaSalle Hotel Properties

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).

Analyst Recommendations for LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE:LHO)