RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.50.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on RLJ. Wall Street Zen raised RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on RLJ Lodging Trust in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $8.50 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 12.3% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 17,904 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963 shares in the last quarter. Aegis Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 57.2% during the first quarter. Aegis Financial Corp now owns 1,999,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,836,000 after purchasing an additional 727,608 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 29.8% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 25.6% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 55,817 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 11,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the first quarter worth about $108,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Up 0.6%

RLJ opened at $8.88 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $7.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 2.89. The company has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -888.30 and a beta of 1.09. RLJ Lodging Trust has a one year low of $6.54 and a one year high of $9.00.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $339.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.51 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 1.84% and a return on equity of 1.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.31 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.8%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -6,000.00%.

About RLJ Lodging Trust

RLJ Lodging Trust is a self-managed, publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, owns and operates premium-branded, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. The company’s portfolio is concentrated in major U.S. markets, targeting properties that benefit from strong corporate and leisure demand, limited new supply and established brand affiliations.

The trust’s hotels are affiliated with leading global lodging brands across the spectrum of service levels, including lifestyle and upscale segments.