Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Free Report) by 116.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 388,028 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 209,107 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.25% of RLJ Lodging Trust worth $3,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 282,846 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 78.2% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,230 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,594 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 13,659 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 2,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,315,588 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $13,432,000 after purchasing an additional 4,258 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on RLJ shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $10.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.82.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

NYSE:RLJ traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $6.88. 1,866,164 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,768,666. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $8.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.27. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52-week low of $6.16 and a 52-week high of $11.48. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.36. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 5.19%. The firm had revenue of $329.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.66 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.72%. RLJ Lodging Trust's payout ratio is presently 222.22%.

Insider Activity at RLJ Lodging Trust

In related news, Director Patricia L. Gibson bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.03 per share, for a total transaction of $80,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 124,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $997,462.51. This trade represents a 8.76 % increase in their position. The acquisition 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 corporate 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.