Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Shares Acquired by SPC Financial Inc.

SPC Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,742 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Lamar Advertising by 45.5% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 617,356 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lamar Advertising in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,665,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 259,979 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its stake in 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 valued at $24,088,000 after acquiring an additional 155,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in 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 valued at $31,432,000 after acquiring an additional 132,734 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on LAMR. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $124.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $12.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $124.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.86. Lamar Advertising has a 12-month low of $108.80 and a 12-month high of $139.88.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $579.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $583.19 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 30.20%. Research analysts expect that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is presently 175.64%.

About Lamar Advertising

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.