RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Receives $12.69 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.69.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lowered their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Compass Point cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $18.00 to $10.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

RLJ stock opened at $9.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.53. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 1 year low of $8.80 and a 1 year high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.25). RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 3.34%. The firm had revenue of $369.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from RLJ Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 214.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RLJ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,236,820 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $298,299,000 after buying an additional 420,428 shares in the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 131.1% in the 2nd quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,311,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878,616 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,699,595 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,367,000 after purchasing an additional 152,395 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,591,525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,326,000 after purchasing an additional 37,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,343,923 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 27,746 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.