RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on RLJ. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group set a $13.00 price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 7th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH increased their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.56.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE RLJ opened at $11.40 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -1,140.30 and a beta of 1.09. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52-week low of $6.54 and a 52-week high of $12.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $10.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.62.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $339.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.51 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 1.37% and a net margin of 1.84%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in RLJ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,204,026 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,469,000 after purchasing an additional 226,335 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 363.1% in the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 357,266 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,572,000 after buying an additional 280,123 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 13,140,744 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $97,899,000 after buying an additional 2,463,189 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,127,412 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,299,000 after buying an additional 94,291 shares during the period. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,254,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

About RLJ Lodging Trust

RLJ Lodging Trust is a self-managed, publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, owns and operates premium-branded, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. The company’s portfolio is concentrated in major U.S. markets, targeting properties that benefit from strong corporate and leisure demand, limited new supply and established brand affiliations.

The trust’s hotels are affiliated with leading global lodging brands across the spectrum of service levels, including lifestyle and upscale segments.