Argent Advisors Inc. Has $1.56 Million Stock Position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Argent Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,834 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 115 shares during the quarter. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $1,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 21,873 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,663,000 after buying an additional 6,252 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 25,601 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,117,000 after buying an additional 2,376 shares during the last quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 31,215 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,800,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 878 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,023 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,220,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on LAMR shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of LAMR stock opened at $113.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56. Lamar Advertising has a 52 week low of $108.80 and a 52 week high of $139.88. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $123.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.68.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.74. The business 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.55 dividend. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.46%. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is currently 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.