Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Raises Holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Free Report) by 50.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 860,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 290,000 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.55% of RLJ Lodging Trust worth $8,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RLJ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $11,996,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 180,900 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 6,100 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $2,930,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,816,392 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $290,848,000 after acquiring an additional 87,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $251,000. 92.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on RLJ shares. Bank of America lowered their price objective on RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. StockNews.com cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Compass Point cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $18.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut RLJ Lodging Trust from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, RLJ Lodging Trust currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.25.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

RLJ traded down $0.09 on Friday, hitting $9.42. 1,635,828 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,371,738. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.32 and a 200-day moving average of $10.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.70. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12-month low of $8.79 and a 12-month high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $369.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $365.67 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 3.34%. The firm's revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.37%. This is an increase from RLJ Lodging Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. RLJ Lodging Trust's dividend payout ratio is 214.29%.

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.