Sterling Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 9,368.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 49,993 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,465 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust were worth $510,000 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. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 97.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 271,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,495,000 after buying an additional 134,093 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,331,818 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,018,000 after acquiring an additional 232,393 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $277,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,166,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,429,000 after acquiring an additional 240,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $355,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RLJ has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp cut their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, RLJ Lodging Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLJ Lodging Trust

In other RLJ Lodging Trust news, Director Patricia L. Gibson acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.03 per share, with a total value of $80,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 124,217 shares in the company, valued at $997,462.51. This trade represents a 8.76 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

Shares of RLJ opened at $6.93 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.31. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.51. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 1-year low of $6.16 and a 1-year high of $11.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 2.74.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.36. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The firm had revenue of $329.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.66 million. As a group, analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.66%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 222.22%.

RLJ Lodging Trust Company 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.