RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $8.15 and last traded at $8.21, with a volume of 2618269 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $8.33.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on RLJ. Truist Financial downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.82.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.69. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.57.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.36. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 5.19%. The business had revenue of $329.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.66 million. Analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.48%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 222.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,397,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,999,000 after acquiring an additional 340,271 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 5,756,233 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,771,000 after purchasing an additional 901,111 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,166,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,429,000 after buying an additional 240,254 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,930,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,085,000 after buying an additional 44,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,690,945 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,685,000 after buying an additional 98,673 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-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.