Barclays PLC Increases Stock Holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

Barclays PLC boosted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Free Report) by 97.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 271,749 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 134,093 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.18% of RLJ Lodging Trust worth $2,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP lifted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 197.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 3,627 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 34.9% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,051 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $93,000. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust in the third quarter worth about $107,000. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 31.0% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 15,798 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 3,738 shares during the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $11.50.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RLJ traded up $0.03 on Thursday, reaching $10.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 617,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,445,586. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.54. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52-week low of $8.74 and a 52-week high of $12.39. The company has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.55, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.74.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $345.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $342.93 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 5.19%. RLJ Lodging Trust's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.82%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 206.90%.

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.