RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.07.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on RLJ. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. StockNews.com lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

Shares of RLJ stock opened at $9.22 on Friday. RLJ Lodging Trust has a twelve month low of $8.84 and a twelve month high of $12.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from RLJ Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.51%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is 142.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hazelview Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $82,000. Metis Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $122,000. Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $128,000. BOKF NA acquired a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 1st quarter worth about $139,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 1,229 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

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.