RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Monday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on RLJ. Oppenheimer increased their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on RLJ Lodging Trust in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an outperform rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $13.90.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $11.11 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.71. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52-week low of $9.06 and a 52-week high of $12.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $11.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a current ratio of 3.46.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $319.70 million for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is currently 125.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 87,008 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 326,141 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,209,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 18,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vert Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 62,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,787 shares during the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.