RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Shares Bought by Donald Smith & CO. Inc.

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its position in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 131.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,311,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,878,616 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned approximately 2.12% of RLJ Lodging Trust worth $31,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hazelview Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust in the first quarter valued at about $82,000. BOKF NA purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the first quarter worth $139,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust by 11.5% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 1,229 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,491 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 3,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $158,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:RLJ opened at $9.14 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.27. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 52-week low of $8.79 and a 52-week high of $12.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.25). RLJ Lodging Trust had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 3.34%. The firm had revenue of $369.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $365.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. RLJ Lodging Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from RLJ Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.56%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 214.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on RLJ. Bank of America cut their price target on RLJ Lodging Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut RLJ Lodging Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday. Compass Point lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $10.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.25.

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.