RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Raised to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

RLJ has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $8.50 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.50.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $8.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -896.50 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $7.87 and its 200 day moving average is $7.66. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52-week low of $6.54 and a 52-week high of $8.98.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $339.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.51 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 1.84% and a return on equity of 1.37%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RLJ. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 13,140,744 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $97,899,000 after purchasing an additional 2,463,189 shares during the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $13,254,000. Aegis Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $9,475,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 286.2% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,618,413 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,783,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 179.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,434,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,447,000 after purchasing an additional 921,548 shares during the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About RLJ Lodging Trust

RLJ Lodging Trust is a self-managed, publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, owns and operates premium-branded, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. The company’s portfolio is concentrated in major U.S. markets, targeting properties that benefit from strong corporate and leisure demand, limited new supply and established brand affiliations.

The trust’s hotels are affiliated with leading global lodging brands across the spectrum of service levels, including lifestyle and upscale segments.