RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.90.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on RLJ. Wolfe Research began coverage on RLJ Lodging Trust in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of RLJ stock opened at $11.40 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.74 and a 200 day moving average of $11.17. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.71. RLJ Lodging Trust has a twelve month low of $9.06 and a twelve month high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $319.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.34 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.79% and a net margin of 5.76%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is currently 125.00%.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 129,106 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,526,000 after acquiring an additional 2,862 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 11.5% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229 shares during the last quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.2% in the first quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 64,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,015 shares during the last quarter. Hazelview Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the first quarter worth approximately $82,000. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the first quarter worth approximately $358,000. 92.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.