RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Monday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on RLJ. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an outperform rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, RLJ Lodging Trust currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $13.90.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:RLJ opened at $10.96 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $11.68 and a 200-day moving average of $11.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a quick ratio of 3.46, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. RLJ Lodging Trust has a twelve month low of $9.06 and a twelve month high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $319.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.34 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.76% and a return on equity of 3.79%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 125.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RLJ. HG Vora Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $31,818,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter worth $13,597,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $11,324,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 4,772.9% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 1,175,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the 3rd quarter worth about $11,258,000. 92.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.