RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Tuesday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on RLJ. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wolfe Research cut RLJ Lodging Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Truist Financial cut 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 report on Monday, October 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.50.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE RLJ opened at $9.97 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $9.93 and a 200-day moving average of $9.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 2.74. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12 month low of $8.74 and a 12 month high of $12.39. The company has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.72.

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

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 206.90%.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RLJ. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 197.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,627 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 34.9% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,051 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $107,000. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 15,798 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 3,738 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.