Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Shares Purchased by Ellsworth Advisors LLC

Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,296 shares during the quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $1,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Lamar Advertising by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,248,660 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $567,632,000 after acquiring an additional 119,068 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,640,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $352,752,000 after purchasing an additional 21,852 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Lamar Advertising by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,054,962 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $274,595,000 after buying an additional 90,775 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Lamar Advertising by 45.5% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 617,356 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Lamar Advertising by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,497,702 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $200,093,000 after buying an additional 90,933 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of LAMR stock opened at $125.25 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $126.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $12.82 billion, a PE ratio of 25.05 and a beta of 1.50. Lamar Advertising has a 1 year low of $102.10 and a 1 year high of $139.88.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.17 by ($0.73). The firm had revenue of $564.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $568.91 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 42.58% and a net margin of 23.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAMR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com cut Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.40.

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.