Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Position in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Free Report) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 785,033 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 89,374 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.51% of RLJ Lodging Trust worth $8,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 78.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,230 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,417 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. purchased a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $112,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 13,659 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 2,624 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $146,000. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,594 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.35% of the company's stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

Shares of RLJ stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $6.94. The company had a trading volume of 282,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,772,094. The stock's 50-day moving average is $8.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.74, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52 week low of $6.16 and a 52 week high of $11.44.

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

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.65%. RLJ Lodging Trust's dividend payout ratio is 222.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other RLJ Lodging Trust news, Director Patricia L. Gibson purchased 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, 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 $997,462.51. The trade was a 8.76 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on RLJ shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com raised RLJ Lodging Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, RLJ Lodging Trust has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.82.

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.