Northern Trust Corp Has $155.63 Million Holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 50.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,278,397 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 428,744 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $155,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their target price on Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.60.

Lamar Advertising Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $115.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Lamar Advertising has a one year low of $99.84 and a one year high of $139.88. The company has a market cap of $11.87 billion, a PE ratio of 32.84 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $113.66 and a 200-day moving average of $123.01.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last issued 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. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 30.20% and a net margin of 16.40%. The firm had revenue of $579.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $583.19 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.35%. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Lamar Advertising’s 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.