Brokerages Set RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) PT at $12.25

by · The Markets Daily

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ – Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.25.

RLJ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Compass Point cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $18.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Bank of America dropped their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on RLJ Lodging Trust

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 0.1 %

RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $9.89 on Monday. 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 $9.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.70.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.25). RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.34% and a net margin of 4.93%. The company had revenue of $369.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $365.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. RLJ Lodging Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.07%. This is a boost from RLJ Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is 214.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,144,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 197.3% during 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. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 7.3% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 245,999 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,369,000 after buying an additional 16,832 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 50.9% in the second quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 860,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,282,000 after buying an additional 290,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 571,240 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,501,000 after buying an additional 47,475 shares during the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

RLJ Lodging Trust Company Profile

(Get Free Report

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.

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