Argent Advisors Inc. Acquires 115 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Argent Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,834 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 115 shares during the quarter. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $1,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LAMR. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 109.3% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising in the third quarter valued at approximately $443,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising in the third quarter valued at approximately $12,838,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 10.0% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lamar Advertising during the third quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on LAMR. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

LAMR stock opened at $113.57 on Tuesday. 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 $108.80 and a one year high of $139.88. The stock has a market cap of $11.63 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $123.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.68.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.74. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 30.20%. The business had revenue of $579.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $583.19 million. On average, analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is currently 175.64%.

About Lamar Advertising

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.