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

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) was the target of a large 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. Approximately 7.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on RLJ. Wolfe Research downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped 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 report on Monday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.92.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

Shares of RLJ stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $9.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 395,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,647,230. The firm's 50-day moving average is $10.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.57. The company has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43 and a beta of 1.70. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 1-year low of $8.74 and a 1-year high of $12.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.74.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.23). RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 5.19%. The business had revenue of $345.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $342.93 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust's dividend payout ratio is 206.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,592,272 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $32,977,000 after purchasing an additional 170,484 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 97.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 271,749 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,495,000 after buying an additional 134,093 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,166,593 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $47,429,000 after buying an additional 240,254 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 22.3% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 44,682 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 8,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning acquired a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $275,000. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.