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 report released on Friday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Compass Point downgraded 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 report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded 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 report on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $12.25.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Down 0.7 %

RLJ opened at $9.82 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.33 and a 200 day moving average of $10.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12 month low of $8.79 and a 12 month high of $12.39. The company has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 35.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.70.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 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 firm had revenue of $369.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.11%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from RLJ Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 214.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RLJ. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 131.1% in the second quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,311,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,878,616 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,996,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,236,820 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $298,299,000 after buying an additional 420,428 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 50.9% during the second quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 860,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,282,000 after buying an additional 290,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,930,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.