RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Downgraded to Peer Perform at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Compass Point cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their price target for the company from $18.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and cut their price target for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $12.14.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $9.42 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. RLJ Lodging Trust has a twelve month low of $8.79 and a twelve month high of $12.39. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.70. The company’s fifty day moving average is $9.32 and its 200 day moving average is $10.09.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.25). RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.34% and a net margin of 4.93%. The business had revenue of $369.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from RLJ Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 142.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 11.5% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 7.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 27,568 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,903 shares in the last quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.2% during the first quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 64,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,015 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 107,116 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 32.3% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,491 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

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.