Palisade Capital Management LP Takes $13.44 Million Position in RLJ Lodging Trust $RLJ

Palisade Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,134,188 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $13,440,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in RLJ Lodging Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $145,895,000. Centersquare Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,254,000. Aegis Financial Corp acquired a new stake in RLJ Lodging Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,475,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 286.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,618,413 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,783,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of RLJ Lodging Trust by 179.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,434,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,447,000 after purchasing an additional 921,548 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.35% of the company’s stock.

RLJ Lodging Trust Stock Performance

Shares of RLJ stock opened at $11.57 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.01 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.63. RLJ Lodging Trust has a 12-month low of $6.54 and a 12-month high of $12.89. The company has a current ratio of 5.71, a quick ratio of 5.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.37. RLJ Lodging Trust had a return on equity of 1.52% and a net margin of 2.00%.The firm had revenue of $382.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $370.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. RLJ Lodging Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.370-1.500 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that RLJ Lodging Trust will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

RLJ Lodging Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on RLJ shares. Weiss Ratings cut RLJ Lodging Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $9.25 to $10.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of RLJ Lodging Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $10.94.

RLJ Lodging Trust Company Profile

RLJ Lodging Trust is a self-managed, publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, owns and operates premium-branded, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. The company’s portfolio is concentrated in major U.S. markets, targeting properties that benefit from strong corporate and leisure demand, limited new supply and established brand affiliations.

The trust’s hotels are affiliated with leading global lodging brands across the spectrum of service levels, including lifestyle and upscale segments.