RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Shares Bought by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 792,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,781 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust were worth $9,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RLJ. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 9.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 121,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,193,000 after purchasing an additional 10,826 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $474,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $138,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 59,081 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $578,000 after acquiring an additional 3,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC purchased a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust in the third quarter valued at $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $10.96 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.71. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52-week low of $9.06 and a 52-week high of $12.39. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.23. The company has a quick ratio of 3.46, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.04. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.79% and a net margin of 5.76%. The business had revenue of $319.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is currently 125.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on RLJ Lodging Trust in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.90.

RLJ Lodging Trust 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.