Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Sells 19,798 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 416,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 19,798 shares during the period. Lamar Advertising makes up approximately 1.4% of Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC owned 0.41% of Lamar Advertising worth $50,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LAMR. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 3rd quarter worth $43,665,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 6.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,497,702 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $200,093,000 after buying an additional 90,933 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 19,961.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 110,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,741,000 after buying an additional 109,790 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Lamar Advertising by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 51,503 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,017,000 after buying an additional 14,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 96.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 97,498 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,026,000 after acquiring an additional 47,746 shares during the period. 93.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAMR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Stock Down 0.4 %

LAMR opened at $122.16 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.63. The company has a market capitalization of $12.50 billion, a PE ratio of 34.61 and a beta of 1.51. Lamar Advertising has a 1-year low of $108.23 and a 1-year high of $139.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its 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 return on equity of 30.20% and a net margin of 16.40%. The company had revenue of $579.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $583.19 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.08%. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is 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.