RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

RLJ has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wolfe Research downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, RLJ Lodging Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.50.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE RLJ opened at $9.65 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.56. 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 has a 12-month low of $8.74 and a 12-month high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its 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). The firm had revenue of $345.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $342.93 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 5.19%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,397,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,999,000 after purchasing an additional 340,271 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,166,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,429,000 after acquiring an additional 240,254 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 46.6% during the third quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 4,855,122 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,543,848 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,930,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,085,000 after purchasing an additional 44,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,592,272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,977,000 after purchasing an additional 170,484 shares in the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.