RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) had its price target increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $6.00 to $7.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on RLJ. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.50.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of NYSE RLJ opened at $7.50 on Tuesday. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 1-year low of $6.16 and a 1-year high of $10.84. The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 28.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a 50-day moving average of $7.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.44.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 4.84% and a return on equity of 3.43%. The company had revenue of $328.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $328.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. RLJ Lodging Trust’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 230.77%.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.5% during the first quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 5,785,113 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,645,000 after acquiring an additional 28,880 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,690,945 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,685,000 after acquiring an additional 98,673 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP raised its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.4% during the first quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP now owns 3,071,508 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,234,000 after acquiring an additional 11,235 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 192.4% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,782,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,830,803 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 58.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,398,066 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $24,486,000 after purchasing an additional 885,071 shares during the period. 92.35% of the stock is owned by 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.