Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $510,000 Position in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Free Report) by 9,368.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,993 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 49,465 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust were worth $510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of RLJ. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 5,756,233 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $58,771,000 after acquiring an additional 901,111 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,426,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bought a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $4,374,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,254,239 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $12,806,000 after buying an additional 400,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP increased its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 1,354,062 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $13,825,000 after buying an additional 294,773 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on RLJ. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial cut 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 research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KeyCorp lowered 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. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.82.

Insider Activity at RLJ Lodging Trust

In related news, Director Patricia L. Gibson purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was bought 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 owns 124,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $997,462.51. This represents a 8.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

NYSE RLJ traded up $0.25 on Wednesday, hitting $7.12. 527,453 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,768,182. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52 week low of $6.16 and a 52 week high of $11.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $8.28 and a 200-day moving average of $9.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.74, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.51.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $329.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.66 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 5.19%. Analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust's dividend payout ratio is 222.22%.

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.