Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Holdings in Lamar Advertising Company $LAMR

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its holdings in Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 11.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 125,381 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 16,917 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.12% of Lamar Advertising worth $14,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Lamar Advertising by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,278,397 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $155,632,000 after purchasing an additional 428,744 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 1st quarter valued at $40,699,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 2,424.4% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 229,422 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,930,000 after buying an additional 220,334 shares during the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 269.4% in the 1st quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 158,733 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,061,000 after buying an additional 115,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Lamar Advertising by 39.8% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 313,629 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,181,000 after acquiring an additional 89,236 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $123.27 on Monday. Lamar Advertising Company has a 12-month low of $99.84 and a 12-month high of $139.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.16. The firm has a market cap of $12.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.67 and a beta of 1.36.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.74. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 41.85%. The firm had revenue of $579.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $580.72 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising Company will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Citigroup raised Lamar Advertising from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $114.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Lamar Advertising from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.20.

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.