RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,510,000 shares, a decline of 18.2% from the December 15th total of 12,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,690,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.2 days. Currently, 7.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 0.8 %

RLJ Lodging Trust stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $9.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,850,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,445,938. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 2.74. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12-month low of $8.74 and a 12-month high of $12.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $10.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.58. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.20 and a beta of 1.70.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $345.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $342.93 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 5.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.05%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 206.90%.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,051 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.4% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 389,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,576,000 after buying an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.8% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 225,738 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,072,000 after buying an additional 1,755 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 192,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,769,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 197.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,627 shares in the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on RLJ. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wolfe Research cut RLJ Lodging Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.92.

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.