RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Trading Down 3% – Here’s What Happened

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) shares traded down 3% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $6.62 and last traded at $6.69. 368,116 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 1,732,623 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RLJ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.82.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Up 1.0 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $8.56 and a 200 day moving average of $9.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 2.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.51.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.36. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 5.19%. The company had revenue of $329.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.66 million. As a group, research analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 222.22%.

Insider Activity at RLJ Lodging Trust

In other RLJ Lodging Trust news, Director Patricia L. Gibson purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.03 per share, with a total value of $80,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 124,217 shares in the company, valued at $997,462.51. This trade represents a 8.76 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.5% during the fourth 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 period. US Bancorp DE boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,417 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 13,659 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 2,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 92.35% of the stock is owned by 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.