AlphaQuest LLC Acquires 124,920 Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust $RLJ

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 1,129.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 135,979 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 124,920 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC owned about 0.09% of RLJ Lodging Trust worth $979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 28.3% in the second quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 7,423,055 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,040,000 after buying an additional 1,637,942 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,977,691 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,238,000 after acquiring an additional 137,014 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,363,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,208,000 after purchasing an additional 701,535 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 36.8% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,282,101 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,614,000 after purchasing an additional 614,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,800,636 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,109,000 after purchasing an additional 198,568 shares during the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at RLJ Lodging Trust

In related news, Director Robin Mcbride Zeigler sold 13,413 shares of RLJ Lodging Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.51, for a total transaction of $100,731.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 37,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $279,064.09. The trade was a 26.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on RLJ shares. Zacks Research raised RLJ Lodging Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Barclays initiated coverage on RLJ Lodging Trust in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $6.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $9.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.64.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

NYSE:RLJ opened at $7.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 149.10 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 2.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.42. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 1 year low of $6.16 and a 1 year high of $9.85.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $330.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.13 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 1.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1,200.00%.

About RLJ Lodging Trust

RLJ Lodging Trust is a self-managed, publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, owns and operates premium-branded, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. The company’s portfolio is concentrated in major U.S. markets, targeting properties that benefit from strong corporate and leisure demand, limited new supply and established brand affiliations.

The trust’s hotels are affiliated with leading global lodging brands across the spectrum of service levels, including lifestyle and upscale segments.