Federated Hermes Inc. Buys 20,601 Shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 23.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 107,716 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,601 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust were worth $1,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Down 0.7 %

RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $6.84 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.74. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.59, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.51. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52 week low of $6.16 and a 52 week high of $11.67.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.36. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 3.58% and a net margin of 5.19%. The business had revenue of $329.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.66 million. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st 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 8.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 222.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on RLJ. Truist Financial downgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Patricia L. Gibson purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.03 per share, with a total value of $80,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 124,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $997,462.51. This trade represents a 8.76 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.