Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Takes $145.90 Million Position in RLJ Lodging Trust $RLJ

Key Points

• Donald Smith & Co. acquired a new 8.1% stake in RLJ Lodging Trust, purchasing 12.3 million shares valued at approximately $145.9 million. The position represents 2.6% of the fund’s portfolio.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 92.35%, with several major investors increasing their holdings. However, analysts maintain a cautious outlook, assigning the stock an average “Reduce” rating and a $10.94 price target.
• RLJ reported quarterly EPS of $0.52, exceeding the $0.15 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 5.5% year over year to $383.0 million. The company pays a $0.15 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 5.2% annualized yield.

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 12,311,807 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $145,895,000. RLJ Lodging Trust makes up 2.6% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned about 8.10% of RLJ Lodging Trust as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,844,974 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $28,650,000 after purchasing an additional 114,163 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,709,660 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $27,637,000 after purchasing an additional 74,252 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,127,412 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $23,299,000 after purchasing an additional 94,291 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 33.3% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,042,014 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $21,903,000 after purchasing an additional 759,913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aegis Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 57.2% in the first quarter. Aegis Financial Corp now owns 1,999,425 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $14,836,000 after buying an additional 727,608 shares during the period. 92.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on RLJ. Zacks Research lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group set a $13.00 price target on RLJ Lodging Trust in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $13.00 price target (up from $10.00) on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $9.00 to $9.50 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $9.25 to $10.50 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $10.94.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $11.49 on Friday. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 1-year low of $6.54 and a 1-year high of $12.89. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 7.88 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 5.71 and a quick ratio of 5.71. The business has a 50-day moving average of $11.64 and a 200-day moving average of $9.56.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $382.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $370.49 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 1.52% and a net margin of 2.00%.The company's revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. RLJ Lodging Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.370-1.500 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%.

RLJ Lodging Trust Profile

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.

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