RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Cut to Hold at Truist Financial

Truist Financial cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. Truist Financial currently has $10.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their prior price target of $11.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on RLJ. StockNews.com upgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.63.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 5.2 %

RLJ opened at $8.42 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $9.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.03, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.69. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52 week low of $8.26 and a 52 week high of $11.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.36. The company had revenue of $329.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.66 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 5.19%. Analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.13%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 222.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 282,846 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,888,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 78.2% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,417 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 389,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,576,000 after buying an additional 1,634 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,796 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 192,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.