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

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

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on RLJ. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.92.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE RLJ opened at $9.97 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 2.74. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.59. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 1 year low of $8.74 and a 1 year high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.23). RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The business had revenue of $345.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $342.93 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RLJ. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,397,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,999,000 after purchasing an additional 340,271 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.9% in the 3rd 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. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 4,855,122 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,570,000 after buying an additional 1,543,848 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,930,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,085,000 after acquiring an additional 44,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,592,272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,977,000 after acquiring an additional 170,484 shares during the period. 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.