StockNews.com Downgrades RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) to Sell

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on RLJ. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Truist Financial cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, RLJ Lodging Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.68.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RLJ opened at $7.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $7.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.00. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 1-year low of $6.16 and a 1-year high of $10.84. 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 market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.50.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $328.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $328.08 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at RLJ Lodging Trust

In other RLJ Lodging Trust news, Director Patricia L. Gibson acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.03 per share, with a total value of $80,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 124,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $997,462.51. The trade was a 8.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RLJ. Barclays PLC increased 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 7.5% during 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 buying an additional 232,393 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $277,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter worth $355,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,690,945 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,685,000 after acquiring an additional 98,673 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

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.