RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

RLJ has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Bank of America reduced their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Compass Point downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $18.00 to $10.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.69.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:RLJ opened at $9.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.48. RLJ Lodging Trust has a one year low of $8.80 and a one year high of $12.39.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 131.1% during the second quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,311,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,888,000 after buying an additional 1,878,616 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $11,996,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,236,820 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $298,299,000 after acquiring an additional 420,428 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 50.9% in the second quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 860,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,282,000 after purchasing an additional 290,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $2,930,000. 92.35% of the stock is currently 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.