RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 29.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,603 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,342 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust were worth $97,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RLJ. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 34.9% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 389,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,576,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.8% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 225,738 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 192,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 197.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 3,627 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $9.69 on Wednesday. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52 week low of $8.74 and a 52 week high of $12.39. 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 $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.98 and a 200-day moving average of $9.56.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $345.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $342.93 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 206.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RLJ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research downgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.50.

About RLJ Lodging Trust

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.