StockNews.com Upgrades RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) to Hold

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on RLJ. Compass Point cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Wolfe Research cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.14.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

NYSE RLJ traded down $0.01 on Friday, hitting $9.15. 1,712,553 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,376,498. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of 32.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.69. 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 fifty day moving average is $9.27 and its 200 day moving average is $9.93. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52 week low of $8.79 and a 52 week high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last released 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 firm had revenue of $369.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $365.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,903 shares during the period. Vert Asset Management LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 2,015 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 107,116 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after buying an additional 2,071 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,491 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 3,052 shares in 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.