RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Receives $9.08 Average Target Price from Brokerages

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $9.0833.

Several research firms have recently commented on RLJ. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $9.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Zacks Research cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a research note on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.50 price target (down from $9.00) on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a research note on Friday, October 3rd.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Up 0.9%

RLJ opened at $7.68 on Wednesday. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12 month low of $6.16 and a 12 month high of $10.67. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $7.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 2.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 153.50 and a beta of 1.16.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 1.78% and a net margin of 2.48%.The business had revenue of $330.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $326.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. RLJ Lodging Trust’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.8%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is presently 1,200.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robin Mcbride Zeigler sold 13,413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.51, for a total transaction of $100,731.63. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 37,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $279,064.09. This trade represents a 26.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 2,721.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 3,347 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust during the third quarter worth about $36,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 55.2% in the 2nd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,870 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.6% during the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 9,120 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741 shares during the last quarter. 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.