Vert Asset Management LLC Raises Position in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

Vert Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 26.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 60,726 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,714 shares during the period. Vert Asset Management LLC’s holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust were worth $620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,397,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,999,000 after acquiring an additional 340,271 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,166,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,429,000 after purchasing an additional 240,254 shares in the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 46.6% during the third quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 4,855,122 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,570,000 after buying an additional 1,543,848 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,930,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,085,000 after buying an additional 44,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,592,272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,977,000 after acquiring an additional 170,484 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, RLJ Lodging Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.92.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $10.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.69 and a beta of 1.70. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $10.11 and its 200 day moving average is $9.60. RLJ Lodging Trust has a one year low of $8.74 and a one year high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $345.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $342.93 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 5.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. Sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.96%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is currently 206.90%.

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.