United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Has $3.82 Million Stock Holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,396 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,466 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $3,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its stake in Lamar Advertising by 453.6% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,660,664 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $323,900,000 after purchasing an additional 2,180,011 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,527,270 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $672,890,000 after purchasing an additional 545,606 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 108.3% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 905,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $110,220,000 after buying an additional 470,805 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising during the 4th quarter worth about $57,255,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,023,000. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $107.03 on Thursday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $117.32 and its 200-day moving average is $124.76. Lamar Advertising has a 52-week low of $99.84 and a 52-week high of $139.88. The company has a market cap of $10.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.32 and a beta of 1.34.

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 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 firm had revenue of $579.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $583.19 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.79%. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is presently 175.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LAMR. 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. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lamar Advertising has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Company Profile

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.