Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 29.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,603 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,342 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust were worth $97,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,627 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 34.9% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,051 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares during the period. Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust during the third quarter worth about $93,000. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $107,000. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 15,798 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 3,738 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE RLJ opened at $9.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.74. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.41, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.56. RLJ Lodging Trust has a one year low of $8.74 and a one year high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last issued 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). RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The business had revenue of $345.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $342.93 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.19%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 206.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RLJ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Truist Financial cut their price objective 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. 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. Finally, Oppenheimer increased 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 note on Tuesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.