RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Shares Bought by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 22.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,682 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,136 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust were worth $410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of RLJ. Quarry LP increased its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 197.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 3,627 shares during the last quarter. Hazelview Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $82,000. BOKF NA purchased a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $139,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 11.5% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 32.3% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,491 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 3,052 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE RLJ opened at $9.10 on Friday. RLJ Lodging Trust has a one year low of $8.79 and a one year high of $12.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.86. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.08, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60.

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

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from RLJ Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.59%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 230.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on RLJ. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Bank of America reduced 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 note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Compass Point cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, RLJ Lodging Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.14.

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.