Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust $RLJ

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,731,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 18,663 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 15.64% of RLJ Lodging Trust worth $187,242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of RLJ. KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 402.7% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 2,944 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Up 2.9%

RLJ opened at $7.4210 on Wednesday. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12 month low of $6.16 and a 12 month high of $10.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 2.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.34 and a beta of 1.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $7.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.83.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.02. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.03% and a net margin of 4.23%.The firm had revenue of $363.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $365.30 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. RLJ Lodging Trust has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.380-1.580 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 285.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.25.

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.