RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s What Happened

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 3,262,402 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 103% from the previous session’s volume of 1,610,286 shares.The stock last traded at $7.89 and had previously closed at $7.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RLJ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.82.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $9.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.57. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.69.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.36. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The business had revenue of $329.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.66 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 222.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 5.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,592,272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,977,000 after purchasing an additional 170,484 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 97.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 271,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,495,000 after acquiring an additional 134,093 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,331,818 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,018,000 after acquiring an additional 232,393 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $277,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,166,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,429,000 after buying an additional 240,254 shares during 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.