RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $12.04 and last traded at $12.0150, with a volume of 172970 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $11.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on RLJ. Raymond James Financial cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $9.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research raised RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group set a $13.00 price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.56.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,202.50 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.89.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $339.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is -6,000.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 29.8% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,374 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 10,972 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 1,661 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 17,904 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,963 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 181,568 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 2,721.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 3,347 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

About RLJ Lodging Trust

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.