Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 19,597 RLJ Lodging Trust $RLJ

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 19,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $143,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 101,739 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $803,000 after buying an additional 5,209 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the first quarter valued at about $551,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the first quarter valued at about $539,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the first quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.8% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,662,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,115,000 after purchasing an additional 319,319 shares during the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE RLJ opened at $7.54 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 35.90 and a beta of 1.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $7.16 and its 200 day moving average is $7.36. RLJ Lodging Trust has a twelve month low of $6.16 and a twelve month high of $10.84. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.03% and a net margin of 4.23%.The firm had revenue of $330.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. RLJ Lodging Trust’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. RLJ Lodging Trust has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.0%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is presently 1,200.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other RLJ Lodging Trust news, Director Robin Mcbride Zeigler sold 13,413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.51, for a total value of $100,731.63. Following the sale, the director owned 37,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $279,064.09. This represents a 26.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RLJ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a report on Monday, November 24th. Baird R W cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Zacks Research lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.50 price target (down previously from $9.00) on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, RLJ Lodging Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.08.

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.