RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Cut to “Hold” at Baird R W

Baird R W cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $7.50 target price (down from $9.00) on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, RLJ Lodging Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.10.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 2.0%

RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $7.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 2.48. The company has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.60 and a beta of 1.49. RLJ Lodging Trust has a one year low of $6.16 and a one year high of $10.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $7.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.43.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $363.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.30 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 3.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. RLJ Lodging Trust has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.380-1.580 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.5%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 285.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 28.3% during the second quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 7,423,055 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,040,000 after buying an additional 1,637,942 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.8% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,977,691 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,238,000 after purchasing an additional 137,014 shares during the period. Palisade Capital Management LP lifted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.4% during the first quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP now owns 3,071,508 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,234,000 after purchasing an additional 11,235 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 192.4% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,782,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $21,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,830,803 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 42.2% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,363,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,208,000 after purchasing an additional 701,535 shares during the period. 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.