RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Receives $13.90 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.90.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on RLJ shares. StockNews.com upgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on RLJ Lodging Trust in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in RLJ. HG Vora Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the 3rd quarter worth $31,818,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $13,597,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the third quarter valued at about $11,324,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 4,772.9% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 1,175,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,800 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the third quarter valued at about $11,258,000. 92.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

RLJ opened at $11.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 3.46. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.17. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 1-year low of $9.06 and a 1-year high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $319.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.34 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.79% and a net margin of 5.76%. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 125.00%.

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.