Short Interest in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Grows By 27.7%

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,630,000 shares, an increase of 27.7% from the September 30th total of 10,670,000 shares. Approximately 9.1% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,520,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 9.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on RLJ shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Compass Point lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, RLJ Lodging Trust presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $11.71.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

RLJ stock traded up $0.03 on Monday, hitting $9.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,467,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,376,311. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12-month low of $8.79 and a 12-month high of $12.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $9.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.69.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.25). The business had revenue of $369.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $365.67 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.34% and a net margin of 4.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from RLJ Lodging Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.62%. RLJ Lodging Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 230.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RLJ Lodging Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 131.1% in the second quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,311,274 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,878,616 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,236,820 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $298,299,000 after purchasing an additional 420,428 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 50.9% during the second quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 860,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,282,000 after purchasing an additional 290,000 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,554,388 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $18,373,000 after acquiring an additional 232,091 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,699,595 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $16,367,000 after buying an additional 152,395 shares during the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About RLJ Lodging Trust

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.