RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Sees Large Volume Increase Following Insider Buying Activity

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday following insider buying activity. Approximately 3,262,402 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 103% from the previous session’s volume of 1,610,286 shares.The stock last traded at $7.89 and had previously closed at $7.87.

Specifically, Director Patricia L. Gibson purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.03 per share, with a total value of $80,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 124,217 shares in the company, valued at $997,462.51. This represents a 8.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on RLJ. StockNews.com upgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $10.50 to $9.75 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.82.

RLJ Lodging Trust Trading Up 0.6 %

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 firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.69. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.56.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.36. RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 3.58%. The company had revenue of $329.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.66 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 222.22%.

Institutional Trading of RLJ Lodging Trust

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 78.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,417 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $111,000. Xponance Inc. bought a new stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $112,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 23.8% in 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. 92.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.