Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Increases Stock Position in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,739 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 5,209 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned about 0.07% of RLJ Lodging Trust worth $803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RLJ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $5,426,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $609,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 277.5% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 123,307 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after buying an additional 90,640 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 116.9% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 388,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,962,000 after acquiring an additional 209,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 107,716 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 20,601 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of RLJ opened at $7.40 on Wednesday. RLJ Lodging Trust has a one year low of $6.16 and a one year high of $10.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $7.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 2.57. The company has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.46 and a beta of 1.54.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $328.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $328.08 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.43% and a net margin of 4.84%. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 230.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RLJ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, RLJ Lodging Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.25.

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.