RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Receives $12.14 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.14.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America decreased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com upgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Compass Point downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 131.1% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 1,878,616 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 420,428 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its position 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 valued at $8,282,000 after purchasing an additional 290,000 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 17.6% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,554,388 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,373,000 after purchasing an additional 232,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 9.8% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,699,595 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,367,000 after buying an additional 152,395 shares during the period. 92.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:RLJ opened at $9.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a PE ratio of 35.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.27 and a 200-day moving average of $9.91. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52 week low of $8.79 and a 52 week high of $12.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $369.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.67 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.56%. This is an increase from RLJ Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 230.78%.

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.