M&T Bank Corp Trims Stock Position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

M&T Bank Corp cut its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,165 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $2,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LAMR. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 45.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 617,356 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising during the third quarter valued at about $43,665,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 148.9% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 434,563 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,058,000 after acquiring an additional 259,979 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 631.7% during the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 180,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $24,088,000 after acquiring an additional 155,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 129.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 235,267 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,432,000 after acquiring an additional 132,734 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAMR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Stock Up 1.6 %

LAMR stock opened at $125.28 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $124.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.99. Lamar Advertising has a 12 month low of $108.80 and a 12 month high of $139.88. The company has a market cap of $12.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.49 and a beta of 1.53. 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 (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.74. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 30.20%. The firm had revenue of $579.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $583.19 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given 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 yield of 4.95%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend 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.