RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Hits New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $8.78 and last traded at $8.78, with a volume of 495290 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RLJ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America decreased their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Compass Point downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $18.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.71.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 33.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.70.

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

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RLJ. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 131.1% in the second 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 acquiring an additional 1,878,616 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $298,299,000 after purchasing an additional 420,428 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 50.9% in the second quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 860,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,282,000 after purchasing an additional 290,000 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 17.6% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 9.8% in the second 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. 92.35% of the stock is currently 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.