RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $9.00 to $9.50. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the stock. RLJ Lodging Trust traded as high as $12.04 and last traded at $12.0150, with a volume of 172970 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.91.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Raymond James Financial lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $9.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $9.25 to $10.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.61.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RLJ. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $97,899,000 after acquiring an additional 2,463,189 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 363.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 357,266 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,572,000 after acquiring an additional 280,123 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,127,412 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,299,000 after acquiring an additional 94,291 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,254,000. Finally, Abel Hall LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $450,000. 92.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Up 1.5%

The firm has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,218.40 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day moving average of $10.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 2.89.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $339.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.51 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 1.37% and a net margin of 1.84%.RLJ Lodging Trust’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is currently -6,000.00%.

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.