Citigroup Inc. Cuts Position in RLJ Lodging Trust $RLJ

Citigroup Inc. cut its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 56.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 284,776 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 362,632 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.19% of RLJ Lodging Trust worth $2,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 28.3% in the second quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 7,423,055 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637,942 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 286.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,618,413 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,783,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199,318 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 179.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,434,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,447,000 after purchasing an additional 921,548 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,363,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,208,000 after purchasing an additional 701,535 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 36.8% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,282,101 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,614,000 after buying an additional 614,166 shares during the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on RLJ. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $9.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, RLJ Lodging Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.64.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

NYSE RLJ opened at $7.87 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $7.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.96 and a quick ratio of 2.96. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 1 year low of $6.16 and a 1 year high of $9.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 393.50 and a beta of 1.07.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $328.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.95 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 2.11% and a return on equity of 1.54%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. RLJ Lodging Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.210-1.410 EPS. Analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is presently 3,000.00%.

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.