RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Monday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on RLJ. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research began coverage on RLJ Lodging Trust in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an outperform rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, RLJ Lodging Trust presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $13.90.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE RLJ opened at $10.96 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $11.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.23. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.25, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.71. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 1-year low of $9.06 and a 1-year high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $319.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.34 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.79% and a net margin of 5.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is currently 125.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hazelview Securities Inc. bought a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $82,000. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $98,000. Metis Global Partners LLC bought a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $122,000. Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $128,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is 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.