RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $8.96, but opened at $8.63. RLJ Lodging Trust shares last traded at $8.94, with a volume of 142,420 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on RLJ shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, RLJ Lodging Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.63.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $9.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.74.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.36. The company had revenue of $329.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.66 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 5.19%. On average, research analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.13%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 222.22%.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RLJ. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 78.2% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Xponance Inc. bought a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 13,659 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 2,624 shares during the period. 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.