Morningstar Investment Services LLC Grows Position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR – Get Rating) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 457,212 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 6,574 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC owned 0.45% of Lamar Advertising worth $42,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Lamar Advertising by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 66,781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,304,000 after buying an additional 1,068 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in Lamar Advertising by 43.4% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 4,493 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its stake in Lamar Advertising by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 9,717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $917,000 after buying an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Lamar Advertising by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 35,191 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,322,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Lamar Advertising by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 39,680 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,747,000 after buying an additional 8,495 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAMR has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 27th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Lamar Advertising in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $108.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st.

Insider Activity at Lamar Advertising

In related news, CFO Jay Lecoryelle Johnson sold 6,000 shares of Lamar Advertising stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.63, for a total value of $573,780.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,912,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 14.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LAMR traded up $0.47 on Friday, reaching $90.94. 127,507 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 434,524. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80 and a beta of 1.38. Lamar Advertising has a fifty-two week low of $81.10 and a fifty-two week high of $111.49. The business’s 50-day moving average is $98.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by ($0.58). Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 34.70% and a net margin of 20.59%. The business had revenue of $471.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $470.51 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 19th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 15th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.50%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is presently 120.48%.

Lamar Advertising Profile

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Lamar Advertising Co engages in advertising services. The firm rents advertising space on billboards, buses, shelters, benches, logo plates, and in airport terminals. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, LA.