RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $9.96.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on RLJ shares. Wall Street Zen cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report 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 report on Thursday, May 8th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $7.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Patricia L. Gibson acquired 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.03 per share, with a total value of $80,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 124,217 shares in the company, valued at $997,462.51. The trade was a 8.76% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 192.4% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,782,181 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $21,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,830,803 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 5,756,233 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $58,771,000 after buying an additional 901,111 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 58.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,398,066 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $24,486,000 after buying an additional 885,071 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $9,036,000. Finally, Man Group plc increased its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 300.6% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 712,904 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $7,279,000 after acquiring an additional 534,938 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.35% of the company's stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of RLJ stock opened at $7.20 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $7.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.66. 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 2.57, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.48.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.43% and a net margin of 4.84%. The company had revenue of $328.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $328.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 EPS. RLJ Lodging Trust's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.33%. RLJ Lodging Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 230.77%.

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.

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