RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Sets New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $8.15 and last traded at $8.21, with a volume of 2618269 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $8.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RLJ has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Truist Financial cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of 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. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.82.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 2.0 %

The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.57. 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 has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.69.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $329.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.66 million. On average, research analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is 222.22%.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 worth $32,977,000 after acquiring an additional 170,484 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 97.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 271,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,495,000 after purchasing an additional 134,093 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 232,393 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $277,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.