Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 90,649 Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. cut its position in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 806,476 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 90,649 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.53% of RLJ Lodging Trust worth $8,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 5,756,233 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $58,771,000 after purchasing an additional 901,111 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 58.5% in 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 buying an additional 885,071 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $5,426,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,161,489 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $22,069,000 after purchasing an additional 438,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans purchased a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $4,374,000. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE RLJ traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $7.59. 1,641,063 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,869,621. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 26.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.50. 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $7.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.02. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52-week low of $6.16 and a 52-week high of $10.84.

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

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.91%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 230.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RLJ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial downgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $10.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of 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 raised shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.68.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Patricia L. Gibson acquired 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.03 per share, with a total value of $80,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 124,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $997,462.51. This represents a 8.76% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About RLJ Lodging Trust

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.