RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $9.15 and last traded at $9.1250, with a volume of 789516 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RLJ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen raised RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings raised RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on RLJ Lodging Trust in a report on Thursday, March 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $8.50 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.50.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Up 3.8%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $8.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -949.70 and a beta of 1.09.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.02. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 1.37% and a net margin of 1.84%.The firm had revenue of $339.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is -6,000.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 13,140,744 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $97,899,000 after acquiring an additional 2,463,189 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,204,026 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,469,000 after acquiring an additional 226,335 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,844,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,650,000 after acquiring an additional 114,163 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,709,660 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,637,000 after acquiring an additional 74,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,127,412 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,299,000 after acquiring an additional 94,291 shares in the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

RLJ Lodging Trust Company Profile

RLJ Lodging Trust is a self-managed, publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, owns and operates premium-branded, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. The company’s portfolio is concentrated in major U.S. markets, targeting properties that benefit from strong corporate and leisure demand, limited new supply and established brand affiliations.

The trust’s hotels are affiliated with leading global lodging brands across the spectrum of service levels, including lifestyle and upscale segments.