RLJ Lodging Trust Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.15 (NYSE:RLJ)

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, January 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st.

RLJ Lodging Trust has decreased its dividend by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. RLJ Lodging Trust has a payout ratio of 600.0% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect RLJ Lodging Trust to earn $1.42 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.3%.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:RLJ traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $7.74. The stock had a trading volume of 1,945,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,145,448. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 154.72 and a beta of 1.16. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52 week low of $6.16 and a 52 week high of $10.67.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $330.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.13 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 1.78% and a net margin of 2.48%.RLJ Lodging Trust’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.