RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Lifted to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday.

RLJ has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America cut their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and cut their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Compass Point lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, RLJ Lodging Trust currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $12.14.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

Shares of RLJ opened at $9.15 on Friday. RLJ Lodging Trust has a one year low of $8.79 and a one year high of $12.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.69.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.25). RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.34% and a net margin of 4.93%. The company had revenue of $369.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $365.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. RLJ Lodging Trust’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from RLJ Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 230.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 131.1% in the 2nd quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,311,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,878,616 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,236,820 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $298,299,000 after acquiring an additional 420,428 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 50.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 860,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,282,000 after purchasing an additional 290,000 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,554,388 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,373,000 after purchasing an additional 232,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,699,595 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,367,000 after purchasing an additional 152,395 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Company Profile

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.