RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume on Insider Buying Activity

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. Approximately 3,262,402 shares were traded during mid-day 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 bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was bought 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $997,462.51. This represents a 8.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on RLJ shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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. Truist Financial lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.82.

RLJ Lodging Trust Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.56. The stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.69. 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 (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $329.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.66 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.50%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 222.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,592,272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,977,000 after acquiring an additional 170,484 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 97.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 271,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,495,000 after acquiring an additional 134,093 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,331,818 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,018,000 after acquiring an additional 232,393 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $277,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in RLJ Lodging Trust by 4.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,166,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,429,000 after purchasing an additional 240,254 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

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.