RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

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

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on RLJ. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial lowered their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.92.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RLJ opened at $9.87 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12 month low of $8.74 and a 12 month high of $12.39. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02 and a beta of 1.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $10.09 and its 200 day moving average is $9.59.

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

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.08%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 206.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RLJ. Vert Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 60,726 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $620,000 after acquiring an additional 12,714 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,166,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,429,000 after purchasing an additional 240,254 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,930,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,085,000 after purchasing an additional 44,121 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 97.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 271,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,495,000 after buying an additional 134,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.