RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.90.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on RLJ. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ziegler Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $984,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $747,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the 3rd quarter worth about $11,258,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 202.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 985,402 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,647,000 after purchasing an additional 659,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 126,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 4,414 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

NYSE RLJ opened at $10.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.46, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 34.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $11.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.13. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12-month low of $9.06 and a 12-month high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.04. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.76% and a return on equity of 3.79%. The business had revenue of $319.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.34 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. RLJ Lodging Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 125.00%.

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.