Brokerages Set RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Price Target at $12.14

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $12.14.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on RLJ shares. Wolfe Research lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Compass Point cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $18.00 to $10.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. 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 note on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $9.22 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $9.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.86. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52 week low of $8.79 and a 52 week high of $12.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.46, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.25). RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 3.34%. 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 company earned $0.56 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from RLJ Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is 230.78%.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RLJ. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 11.5% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 7.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 27,568 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,903 shares in the last quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.2% during the first quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 64,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,015 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 107,116 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,267,000 after acquiring an additional 2,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 32.3% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,491 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

About RLJ Lodging Trust

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.