RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $11.26 and last traded at $11.2450, with a volume of 1642136 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on RLJ shares. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen raised RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 7th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on RLJ Lodging Trust in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $8.50 target price on the stock. One 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, RLJ Lodging Trust has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $9.17.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -1,124.50 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.20. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $339.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.51 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 1.84% and a return on equity of 1.37%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is -6,000.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RLJ. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 2,721.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 3,347 shares during the last quarter. Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 166.8% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 2,887 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the third quarter valued at about $50,000. 92.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

RLJ Lodging Trust Company Profile

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.