Oppenheimer Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Stock

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) had its price target upped by Oppenheimer from $11.00 to $12.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on RLJ. Wolfe Research cut RLJ Lodging Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Compass Point cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $10.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.29.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

RLJ stock opened at $9.67 on Tuesday. RLJ Lodging Trust has a one year low of $8.74 and a one year high of $12.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.34, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.74. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.56.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $345.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $342.93 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its position 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. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 294.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 841,753 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,727,000 after acquiring an additional 628,157 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,236,820 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $298,299,000 after acquiring an additional 420,428 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,991,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,283,000 after acquiring an additional 400,100 shares during the period. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 50.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 860,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,282,000 after purchasing an additional 290,000 shares in the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.