RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Shares Bought by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,251 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of RLJ Lodging Trust worth $981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RLJ. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 5,756,233 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,771,000 after acquiring an additional 901,111 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,166,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,429,000 after buying an additional 240,254 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,690,945 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,685,000 after buying an additional 98,673 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 232,393 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,201,819 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,481,000 after acquiring an additional 52,945 shares during the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at RLJ Lodging Trust

In other RLJ Lodging Trust news, Director Patricia L. Gibson purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.03 per share, with a total value of $80,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 124,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $997,462.51. This trade represents a 8.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on RLJ. StockNews.com lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp lowered 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 report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Truist Financial cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Three 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.com, RLJ Lodging Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.82.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of RLJ opened at $7.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 25.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average is $7.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.14. RLJ Lodging Trust has a fifty-two week low of $6.16 and a fifty-two week high of $10.98.

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

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.25%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 222.22%.

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.