RLJ Lodging Trust $RLJ Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 28.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 147,943 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 58,712 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust were worth $1,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 13,140,744 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $97,899,000 after purchasing an additional 2,463,189 shares during the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the fourth quarter worth $13,254,000. Aegis Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter worth $9,475,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 286.2% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,618,413 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,783,000 after buying an additional 1,199,318 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 179.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,434,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,447,000 after buying an additional 921,548 shares during the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RLJ has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James Financial downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $9.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective (up from $10.00) on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, RLJ Lodging Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.83.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $12.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of -1,237.50 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $11.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.20. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 1 year low of $6.54 and a 1 year high of $12.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.89.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $339.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.51 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 1.84% and a return on equity of 1.37%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is -6,000.00%.

About RLJ Lodging Trust

RLJ Lodging Trust is a self-managed, publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, owns and operates premium-branded, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. The company’s portfolio is concentrated in major U.S. markets, targeting properties that benefit from strong corporate and leisure demand, limited new supply and established brand affiliations.

The trust’s hotels are affiliated with leading global lodging brands across the spectrum of service levels, including lifestyle and upscale segments.