California State Teachers Retirement System Has $1.48 Million Stake in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

California State Teachers Retirement System decreased its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,482 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.10% of RLJ Lodging Trust worth $1,478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 97.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 271,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,495,000 after buying an additional 134,093 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc grew its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 40,417 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 9,474 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC grew its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 45,054 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 9,523 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 44.1% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 34,775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 10,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $355,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Up 2.5%

NYSE RLJ opened at $7.43 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.79. RLJ Lodging Trust has a one year low of $6.16 and a one year high of $10.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 2.74.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 5.19%. The business had revenue of $328.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $328.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.07%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 230.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at RLJ Lodging Trust

In other news, Director Patricia L. Gibson acquired 10,000 shares of RLJ Lodging Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.03 per share, with a total value of $80,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 124,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $997,462.51. The trade was a 8.76% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on RLJ shares. Wall Street Zen lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp reduced their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.68.

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.