Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 70,258 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,494,692 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 70,258 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.21% of Lamar Advertising worth $1,521,104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 45.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,974,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $263,840,000 after purchasing an additional 617,356 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Lamar Advertising by 108.3% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 905,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $110,220,000 after purchasing an additional 470,805 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Lamar Advertising in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,023,000. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 631.7% during the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 180,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,088,000 after buying an additional 155,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,423,981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $295,122,000 after buying an additional 152,575 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAMR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LAMR opened at $112.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.99. Lamar Advertising has a 1-year low of $108.80 and a 1-year high of $139.88. The firm has a market cap of $11.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88 and a beta of 1.53.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $579.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $583.19 million. Analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.51%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.