RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Short Interest Down 18.2% in December

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,510,000 shares, a decline of 18.2% from the December 15th total of 12,850,000 shares. Currently, 7.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on RLJ. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 34.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,051 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.4% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 389,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,576,000 after buying an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.8% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 225,738 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,072,000 after acquiring an additional 1,755 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 192,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 197.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,627 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Down 0.5 %

RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $10.00 on Friday. RLJ Lodging Trust has a fifty-two week low of $8.74 and a fifty-two week high of $12.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49 and a beta of 1.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $10.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.74.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.23). RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The business had revenue of $345.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $342.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.00%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is currently 206.90%.

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.