RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.15

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 14th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.95%.

RLJ Lodging Trust has raised its dividend by an average of 307.9% annually over the last three years. RLJ Lodging Trust has a payout ratio of 341.2% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect RLJ Lodging Trust to earn $1.42 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.58 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.8%.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RLJ opened at $8.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $9.60 and a 200-day moving average of $9.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 29.78, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.69. 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 $8.46 and a 12 month high of $12.13.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.36. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The firm had revenue of $329.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.66 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.79.

RLJ Lodging Trust Company Profile

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.