Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Acquires 901,111 Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Free Report) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,756,233 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 901,111 shares during the quarter. RLJ Lodging Trust accounts for 1.4% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned approximately 3.75% of RLJ Lodging Trust worth $58,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,397,290 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $68,999,000 after acquiring an additional 340,271 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,166,593 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $47,429,000 after purchasing an additional 240,254 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,930,177 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $36,085,000 after purchasing an additional 44,121 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,690,945 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $37,685,000 after purchasing an additional 98,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,331,818 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $34,018,000 after purchasing an additional 232,393 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.35% of the company's stock.

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RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE RLJ traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $6.55. The company had a trading volume of 764,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,227,559. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 1-year low of $6.25 and a 1-year high of $11.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm's 50 day moving average is $9.02 and its 200-day moving average is $9.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $992.92 million, a P/E ratio of 22.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.51.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.36. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The company had revenue of $329.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.66 million. On average, analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust's payout ratio is presently 222.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on RLJ. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.82.

Insider Activity at RLJ Lodging Trust

In related news, Director Patricia L. Gibson acquired 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.03 per share, for a total transaction of $80,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 124,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $997,462.51. This trade represents a 8.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.