Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Grows Stock Position in RLJ Lodging Trust $RLJ

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 36.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,282,101 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 614,166 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust were worth $16,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of RLJ. KBC Group NV grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 55.2% during the 2nd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,870 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the second quarter valued at $76,000. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 1,138.4% during the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 10,576 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 9,722 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 1st quarter worth about $90,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $99,000. 92.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 1.4%

RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $7.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 144.30 and a beta of 1.16. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12 month low of $6.16 and a 12 month high of $10.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $7.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $330.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.13 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 2.48% and a return on equity of 1.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 1,200.00%.

Insider Activity at RLJ Lodging Trust

In related news, Director Robin Mcbride Zeigler sold 13,413 shares of RLJ Lodging Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.51, for a total value of $100,731.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 37,159 shares in the company, valued at $279,064.09. The trade was a 26.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on RLJ shares. Baird R W downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of RLJ Lodging Trust to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $7.50 target price (down previously from $9.00) on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a report on Friday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, RLJ Lodging Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.08.

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.