RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Reaches New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• RLJ Lodging Trust shares touched a new 52-week high of $9.00 before easing slightly, reflecting recent upward momentum in the stock.
• Despite the price move, analyst sentiment remains cautious: the consensus rating is Hold with an average target price of $7.50, and several firms have recently lowered or maintained neutral ratings.
• The company’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of ($0.05) versus a forecast of ($0.07) and revenue of $339.98 million, while RLJ also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.15 for a 6.9% annualized yield.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $9.00 and last traded at $8.7960, with a volume of 109112 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $8.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $8.50 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $7.50.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 3.0%

The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $7.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.66. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of -869.40 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.89.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $339.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $323.51 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 1.84% and a return on equity of 1.37%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. RLJ Lodging Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -6,000.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RLJ. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 13,140,744 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $97,899,000 after buying an additional 2,463,189 shares during the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the fourth quarter worth $13,254,000. Aegis Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the fourth quarter worth $9,475,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 286.2% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,618,413 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $11,783,000 after buying an additional 1,199,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 179.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,434,974 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $10,447,000 after buying an additional 921,548 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.35% of the company's stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Company Profile

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.

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