RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $12.10 and last traded at $11.9450, with a volume of 2055 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $12.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $6.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 7th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, RLJ Lodging Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.56.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,185.00 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.42.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.05) 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. Analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -6,000.00%.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 11.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 84,756 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 8,468 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 123.0% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 128,442 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $953,000 after purchasing an additional 70,834 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 2,111.3% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 299,232 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,220,000 after purchasing an additional 285,700 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 122.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 251,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after acquiring an additional 138,259 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 17,904 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,963 shares in 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-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.