Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Grows Stake in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 178,304 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,145 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of RLJ Lodging Trust worth $2,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,728,978 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $242,097,000 after acquiring an additional 183,408 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,358,968 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,884,000 after acquiring an additional 48,091 shares during the last quarter. HG Vora Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the third quarter valued at about $31,818,000. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.8% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,539,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,071,000 after acquiring an additional 12,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the third quarter valued at about $11,324,000. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $11.37 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.18. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 35.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.71. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 1-year low of $9.06 and a 1-year high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $319.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.34 million. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.76% and a return on equity of 3.79%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 125.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.90.

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.