RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on RLJ. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Compass Point downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $18.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America cut their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, RLJ Lodging Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.14.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

Shares of RLJ opened at $9.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.69. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52 week low of $8.79 and a 52 week high of $12.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $9.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $369.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $365.67 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 3.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 197.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 3,627 shares in the last quarter. Hazelview Securities Inc. purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $82,000. BOKF NA bought a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $139,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 11.5% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 32.3% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,491 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 3,052 shares during the period. 92.35% of the stock is 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.