RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $10.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.82.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust stock traded up $0.13 on Friday, hitting $7.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,102,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,770,466. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52-week low of $6.16 and a 52-week high of $11.48. The company's 50 day moving average price is $8.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.26.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.36. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The firm had revenue of $329.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.66 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.57%. RLJ Lodging Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 222.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Patricia L. Gibson acquired 10,000 shares of RLJ Lodging Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.03 per share, with a total value of $80,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 124,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $997,462.51. This represents a 8.76 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 222,411 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,755,000 after buying an additional 1,762 shares during the period. Vert Asset Management LLC increased its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 22.8% during the first quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 74,557 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 13,831 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 402.7% during the first 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. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $3,678,000. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.35% of the company's stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Company Profile

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.