RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

RLJ has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp cut 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 note on Monday, March 24th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.68.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $7.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.50. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12-month low of $6.16 and a 12-month high of $10.84. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.98.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $328.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $328.08 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The company’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other RLJ Lodging Trust news, Director Patricia L. Gibson acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.03 per share, with a total value of $80,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 124,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $997,462.51. The trade was a 8.76% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 78.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 402.7% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 2,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the first quarter worth about $82,000. Institutional investors 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.