RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of 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. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, RLJ Lodging Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.50.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of RLJ stock opened at $9.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $10.01 and its 200 day moving average is $9.56. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12-month low of $8.74 and a 12-month high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last issued 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). RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 5.19%. The firm had revenue of $345.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $342.93 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.22%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is 206.90%.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RLJ. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 32.4% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 130,942 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 32,029 shares during the period. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust during the second quarter valued at $340,000. BOKF NA increased its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 129.8% in the 2nd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 27,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 15,426 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 131.1% in the 2nd quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,311,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,878,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at about $330,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

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.