Victory Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,429,076 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 20,980 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 3.35% of Lamar Advertising worth $417,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Lamar Advertising by 45.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,974,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $263,840,000 after purchasing an additional 617,356 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising during the third quarter valued at about $43,665,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 148.9% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 434,563 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,058,000 after buying an additional 259,979 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 631.7% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 180,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,088,000 after buying an additional 155,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 129.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 235,267 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,432,000 after buying an additional 132,734 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

NASDAQ LAMR opened at $121.97 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $124.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.88. Lamar Advertising has a 1 year low of $108.80 and a 1 year high of $139.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $12.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.55 and a beta of 1.51.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $579.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $583.19 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 30.20% and a net margin of 16.40%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.08%. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is presently 175.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on LAMR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lamar Advertising presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Company Profile

Lamar Advertising Company operates as an outdoor advertising company in the United States and Canada. The company owns and operates billboards, logo signs, and transit advertising displays, as well as rents space for advertising on billboards, buses, shelters, benches, logo plates, and in airport terminals.