RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Short Interest Update

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,510,000 shares, a decline of 18.2% from the December 15th total of 12,850,000 shares. Approximately 7.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.2 days.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RLJ traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $9.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,850,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,445,938. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12 month low of $8.74 and a 12 month high of $12.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.20 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 2.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.09 and a 200-day moving average of $9.58.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.23). RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The company had revenue of $345.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $342.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.05%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is 206.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 197.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 3,627 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 34.9% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,051 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the third quarter worth $93,000. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the third quarter worth $107,000. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 31.0% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 15,798 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 3,738 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RLJ has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Wolfe Research cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.92.

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.