RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $9.96.

RLJ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

Shares of RLJ opened at $7.20 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.48. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $7.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.66. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52 week low of $6.16 and a 52 week high of $10.84.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.43% and a net margin of 4.84%. The business had revenue of $328.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $328.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.33%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 230.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Patricia L. Gibson purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.03 per share, for a total transaction of $80,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 124,217 shares in the company, valued at $997,462.51. This trade represents a 8.76% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,331,818 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,018,000 after buying an additional 232,393 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $277,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 103.5% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 488,403 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,987,000 after purchasing an additional 248,350 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $995,000. Finally, Man Group plc increased its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 300.6% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 712,904 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,279,000 after purchasing an additional 534,938 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.