Is RLJ Lodging Trust (RLJ) A Good Stock to Buy?

As aggregate interest increased, some big names have jumped into RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) headfirst. Millennium Management, founded by Israel Englander, established the most valuable position in RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ). Millennium Management had $4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP also initiated a $3.4 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new RLJ positions are Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management and James Dondero’s Highland Capital Management.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ). We will take a look at Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED), PNM Resources, Inc. (NYSE:PNM), WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC), and Nice Systems Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:NICE). This group of stocks’ market values are similar to RLJ’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 17 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $143 million. That figure was $105 million in RLJ’s case. WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand PNM Resources, Inc. (NYSE:PNM) is the least popular one with only 13 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) is even less popular than PNM. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock.

Disclosure: None