Globeflex Capital L P Buys New Position in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

Globeflex Capital L P bought a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 38,382 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $392,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 5.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,592,272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,977,000 after acquiring an additional 170,484 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 97.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 271,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,495,000 after acquiring an additional 134,093 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,331,818 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,018,000 after acquiring an additional 232,393 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $277,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake 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 worth $47,429,000 after acquiring an additional 240,254 shares in the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on RLJ. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock 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 Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, RLJ Lodging Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.79.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE RLJ opened at $8.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52 week low of $8.46 and a 52 week high of $12.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.58 and its 200 day moving average is $9.62. The company has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.69.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.36. The business had revenue of $329.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.66 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. On average, equities research analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 222.22%.

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.