RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the eight analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $12.25.

• 7 best hotel REITs to buy now

RLJ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Compass Point cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $18.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America lowered their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com raised RLJ Lodging Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 11th.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on RLJ Lodging Trust

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 197.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,627 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 245,999 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,369,000 after acquiring an additional 16,832 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 50.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 860,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,282,000 after acquiring an additional 290,000 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 571,240 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,501,000 after acquiring an additional 47,475 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 393,842 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,793,000 after acquiring an additional 75,654 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.35% of the company's stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $9.14 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $9.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.70. RLJ Lodging Trust has a one year low of $8.79 and a one year high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.25). RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 3.34%. The business had revenue of $369.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $365.67 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. RLJ Lodging Trust's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.56%. This is a boost from RLJ Lodging Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. RLJ Lodging Trust's payout ratio is presently 214.29%.

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.

Further Reading

• Five stocks we like better than RLJ Lodging Trust
• 3 Natural Gas Stocks That Offer Great Dividend Yields
• Symbotic’s Double-Bagger Potential as It Hits a Key Inflection
• Overbought Stocks Explained: Should You Trade Them?
• High Dividend Yields Make These 2 Shipping Stocks Stand Out
• TSX Venture Exchange (Formerly Canadian Venture Exchange)
• Can Celsius Stock Rebound? Analysts See 74% Upside Potential

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

→ Nvidia needs these 3 companies on a new $1 trillion Superproject (From Weiss Ratings) (Ad)

Should you invest $1,000 in RLJ Lodging Trust right now?

Before you consider RLJ Lodging Trust, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and RLJ Lodging Trust wasn't on the list.

While RLJ Lodging Trust currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here