RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Upgraded to Hold by StockNews.com

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

RLJ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Compass Point lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the company from $18.00 to $10.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, RLJ Lodging Trust currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $12.14.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of RLJ opened at $9.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.69. RLJ Lodging Trust has a fifty-two week low of $8.79 and a fifty-two week high of $12.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $9.27 and a 200 day moving average of $9.91.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $369.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $365.67 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 3.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.56%. This is a positive change from RLJ Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is 230.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP boosted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 197.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 3,627 shares in the last quarter. Hazelview Securities Inc. purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 1st quarter worth $82,000. BOKF NA purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 1st quarter worth $139,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 11.5% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 32.3% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,491 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 3,052 shares during the period. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by 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.