RLJ Lodging Trust (RLJ) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.15 on January 15th

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 13th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share by the real estate investment trust on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st.

RLJ Lodging Trust has a payout ratio of 315.8% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect RLJ Lodging Trust to earn $1.42 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.3%.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RLJ opened at $10.15 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $9.85 and its 200 day moving average is $9.54. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.72. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 1-year low of $8.74 and a 1-year high of $12.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.23). RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 5.19%. The business had revenue of $345.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $342.93 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on RLJ. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research lowered 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, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.50.

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.