BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 59,138 Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Free Report) by 73.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,303 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 59,138 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 97.4% during 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. abrdn plc raised its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 40,417 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 9,474 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 45,054 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 9,523 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 34,775 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 10,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $355,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.35% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Patricia L. Gibson purchased 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.03 per share, with a total value of $80,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 124,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at $997,462.51. This trade represents a 8.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

RLJ Lodging Trust stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $7.23. 1,334,871 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,891,469. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.50. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12 month low of $6.16 and a 12 month high of $10.84. The business's 50-day moving average is $7.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.85.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $328.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $328.08 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.30%. RLJ Lodging Trust's dividend payout ratio is 230.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on RLJ. Truist Financial lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, RLJ Lodging Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.68.

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.