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

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $12.57 and last traded at $12.4550, with a volume of 209058 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.25.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $9.25 to $10.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group set a $13.00 price target on RLJ Lodging Trust in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.83.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Up 0.5%

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 2.89 and a current ratio of 2.89. The company has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of -1,231.50 and a beta of 1.09.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $339.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RLJ. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 13,140,744 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $97,899,000 after buying an additional 2,463,189 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,844,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,650,000 after acquiring an additional 114,163 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,709,660 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,637,000 after acquiring an additional 74,252 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.1% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 33.3% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,042,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $21,903,000 after acquiring an additional 759,913 shares during the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.