RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Shares Sold by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,022 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,294 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ziegler Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $984,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the third quarter valued at $747,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the third quarter valued at $11,258,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 202.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 985,402 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,647,000 after purchasing an additional 659,261 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 126,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 4,414 shares during the period. 92.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on RLJ. StockNews.com raised RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on RLJ Lodging Trust in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.90.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of RLJ opened at $11.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $11.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.14. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 34.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.71. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12 month low of $9.06 and a 12 month high of $12.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 3.46.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $319.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.34 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.79% and a net margin of 5.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 125.00%.

RLJ Lodging Trust 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.