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

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.25.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Compass Point downgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $18.00 to $10.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RLJ. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,435 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,648 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 98,362 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 7,267 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter worth $11,996,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,316,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,426,000 after purchasing an additional 9,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $258,000. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:RLJ opened at $9.30 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.20, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.70. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 1-year low of $8.79 and a 1-year high of $12.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.23.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $369.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from RLJ Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 214.29%.

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.