RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Shares Acquired by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC increased its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 97.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 271,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 134,093 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.18% of RLJ Lodging Trust worth $2,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 131.1% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 294.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 841,753 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,727,000 after buying an additional 628,157 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 25.1% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,991,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,283,000 after buying an additional 400,100 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,397,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,999,000 after buying an additional 340,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 50.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 860,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,282,000 after acquiring an additional 290,000 shares in the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

Shares of RLJ stock opened at $10.28 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $9.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.53. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.72. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52-week low of $8.74 and a 52-week high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $345.74 million for 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%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.84%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 206.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on RLJ. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. 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. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.50.

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.