Fisher Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Position in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,331,818 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 232,393 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust were worth $34,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 282,846 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 34.9% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in RLJ Lodging Trust by 1.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 192,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. 92.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE RLJ opened at $9.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.74 and a quick ratio of 2.74. RLJ Lodging Trust has a one year low of $8.74 and a one year high of $12.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.78, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.68. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.64.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $329.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.66 million. As a group, analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.51%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 222.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on RLJ shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.79.

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.