Analysts Set RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Target Price at $9.96

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $9.96.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on RLJ shares. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $7.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Patricia L. Gibson acquired 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 $997,462.51. This represents a 8.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RLJ. KBC Group NV purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust during the first quarter worth $27,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 402.7% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,675 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 2,944 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 78.2% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,230 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417 shares during the period. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 92.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

RLJ traded down $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $7.21. 2,225,929 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,902,256. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.59. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12-month low of $6.16 and a 12-month high of $10.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 2.57. The company has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.71, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.48.

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

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. RLJ Lodging Trust's payout ratio is 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.