Willis Investment Counsel Raises Position in Lamar Advertising Company $LAMR

Willis Investment Counsel grew its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 113.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,211 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 6,478 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $1,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,358 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $650,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 0.3% during the second quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 29,916 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,631,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 1.6% during the third quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 4.0% in the second quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 2,475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Investments LLC increased its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,895 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LAMR opened at $133.13 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.54. Lamar Advertising Company has a fifty-two week low of $99.84 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $13.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.06. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 43.02% and a net margin of 19.27%.The company had revenue of $585.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $584.00 million. Analysts expect that Lamar Advertising Company will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 22nd were paid a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 22nd. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is presently 145.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $140.00 price target on Lamar Advertising in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $122.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Lamar Advertising in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Lamar Advertising Profile

Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ: LAMR) is one of North America’s largest outdoor advertising firms, specializing in out-of-home media solutions. Since its founding in 1902, the company has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to offer a broad portfolio of advertising products. Its core business centers on billboard advertising, encompassing traditional static billboards and a rapidly expanding network of digital displays. These assets enable advertisers to reach consumers with high-impact messaging along highways, in urban centers, and at high-traffic intersections.

In addition to highway billboards, Lamar offers a variety of supplemental out-of-home formats, including transit advertising on buses and shelters, and logo signage at travel plazas and gas stations.