RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.15

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, January 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st.

RLJ Lodging Trust has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.2%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. RLJ Lodging Trust has a dividend payout ratio of 600.0% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect RLJ Lodging Trust to earn $1.42 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.3%.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $7.74. The stock had a trading volume of 1,945,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,145,448. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 154.72 and a beta of 1.16. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 1 year low of $6.16 and a 1 year high of $10.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.37.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 1.78% and a net margin of 2.48%.The firm had revenue of $330.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $326.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RLJ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.50 target price (down previously from $9.00) on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Baird R W cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Raymond James Financial raised shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $9.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.08.

RLJ Lodging Trust Company Profile

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.