Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Shares Sold by Advisory Research Inc.

Advisory Research Inc. lowered its position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,279 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 326 shares during the period. Advisory Research Inc.’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $5,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in Lamar Advertising by 453.6% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,660,664 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $323,900,000 after buying an additional 2,180,011 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,527,270 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $672,890,000 after purchasing an additional 545,606 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 108.3% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 905,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $110,220,000 after purchasing an additional 470,805 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lamar Advertising in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,255,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Lamar Advertising during the fourth quarter worth $48,023,000. 93.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Lamar Advertising Trading Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $107.03 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.32 and a beta of 1.34. Lamar Advertising has a 1 year low of $99.84 and a 1 year high of $139.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $117.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.76. 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 (NASDAQ:LAMR) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $583.19 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 30.20%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. 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 5.79%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is currently 175.64%.

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.