RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Shares Sold by Vestcor Inc

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc drastically reduced its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 92.2%, selling 130,173 shares to own only 11,088 shares valued at $87,000.
• Several institutional investors increased their stakes in RLJ, with Man Group plc leading with a 300.6% increase during the fourth quarter.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on RLJ Lodging Trust, resulting in a consensus rating of "Hold" with a price target of $9.25, as various brokerages reconsider their ratings and price objectives.

Vestcor Inc reduced its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Free Report) by 92.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,088 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 130,173 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc's holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust were worth $87,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $5,426,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $609,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 277.5% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 123,307 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,259,000 after buying an additional 90,640 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 116.9% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 388,028 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,962,000 after buying an additional 209,107 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 107,716 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,100,000 after buying an additional 20,601 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.35% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RLJ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $7.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.25.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

RLJ stock traded down $0.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $6.94. The company had a trading volume of 3,273,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,483,011. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05 and a beta of 1.54. RLJ Lodging Trust has a twelve month low of $6.16 and a twelve month high of $10.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 2.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.97.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $363.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.30 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.01% and a net margin of 4.23%. The firm's revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. RLJ Lodging Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 230.77%.

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.