RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Cut to “Underweight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a report published on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $9.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their previous target price of $11.00.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on RLJ. StockNews.com upgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Compass Point downgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $12.25.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

Shares of RLJ opened at $9.14 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $9.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.27. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.64, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. RLJ Lodging Trust has a one year low of $8.79 and a one year high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.25). RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.34% and a net margin of 4.93%. The firm had revenue of $369.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $365.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a positive change from RLJ Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 142.86%.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in RLJ. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 125,080 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after buying an additional 12,348 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,435 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,648 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 97,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 20,800 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 98,362 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 7,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $11,996,000. 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.