Woodline Partners LP Acquires 1,830,803 Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust $RLJ

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP significantly increased its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 192.4% in the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to approximately 1.83% of the company, valued at about $21.95 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on RLJ Lodging Trust, with only two giving it a "Buy" rating, while Truist Financial has raised its price objective from $7.00 to $8.00, maintaining a "hold" rating.
• RLJ Lodging Trust's recent quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, posting $0.48 earnings per share on $363.10 million in revenue, although revenue declined 1.7% year-over-year.

Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Free Report) by 192.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,782,181 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 1,830,803 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP owned approximately 1.83% of RLJ Lodging Trust worth $21,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 58.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,398,066 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $24,486,000 after acquiring an additional 885,071 shares during the period. Man Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 300.6% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 712,904 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $7,279,000 after acquiring an additional 534,938 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 2,455.6% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 469,769 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,706,000 after acquiring an additional 451,387 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $3,678,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,662,214 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $13,115,000 after acquiring an additional 319,319 shares during the period. 92.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on RLJ shares. Zacks Research raised shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $9.50.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $7.47. 585,677 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,116,119. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.55 and a beta of 1.50. RLJ Lodging Trust has a fifty-two week low of $6.16 and a fifty-two week high of $10.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.57.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $363.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $365.30 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 3.03%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. RLJ Lodging Trust has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.380-1.580 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. RLJ Lodging Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 285.71%.

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.