Caxton Associates LP Reduces Position in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

Caxton Associates LP lessened its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) by 10.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 84,034 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 9,323 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP’s holdings in RLJ Lodging Trust were worth $809,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of RLJ. Norges Bank bought a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,996,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 180,900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 6,100 shares during the period. Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $2,930,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,816,392 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $290,848,000 after purchasing an additional 87,414 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $251,000. Institutional investors own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RLJ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered RLJ Lodging Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Compass Point cut shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $10.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, RLJ Lodging Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.25.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

RLJ Lodging Trust stock opened at $9.52 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $9.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.70. RLJ Lodging Trust has a fifty-two week low of $8.79 and a fifty-two week high of $12.39.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $365.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from RLJ Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.31%. RLJ Lodging Trust’s payout ratio is presently 214.29%.

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.