RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $10.70 and last traded at $10.6050, with a volume of 813095 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $10.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on RLJ shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on RLJ Lodging Trust in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $8.50 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Truist Financial cut their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, RLJ Lodging Trust has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $8.67.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.03. The stock has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,059.60 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.02. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 1.84% and a return on equity of 1.37%. The company had revenue of $339.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.51 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -6,000.00%.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 13,140,744 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $97,899,000 after acquiring an additional 2,463,189 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,204,026 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,469,000 after buying an additional 226,335 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,844,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,650,000 after buying an additional 114,163 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,709,660 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,637,000 after buying an additional 74,252 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,127,412 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,299,000 after buying an additional 94,291 shares during the period. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About RLJ Lodging Trust

RLJ Lodging Trust is a self-managed, publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, owns and operates premium-branded, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. The company’s portfolio is concentrated in major U.S. markets, targeting properties that benefit from strong corporate and leisure demand, limited new supply and established brand affiliations.

The trust’s hotels are affiliated with leading global lodging brands across the spectrum of service levels, including lifestyle and upscale segments.