Stephens Inc. AR Raises Stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 28,806 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,982 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $3,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAMR. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising during the third quarter valued at $43,665,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 49,140.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 285,102 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,090,000 after acquiring an additional 284,523 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 148.9% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 434,563 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,058,000 after acquiring an additional 259,979 shares during the period. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 155,656 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Lamar Advertising stock opened at $128.18 on Tuesday. Lamar Advertising has a 52-week low of $102.10 and a 52-week high of $139.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $125.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48. The company has a market cap of $13.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.64 and a beta of 1.51.

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). Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 42.58% and a net margin of 23.46%. The firm had revenue of $564.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. Lamar Advertising’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.37%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on LAMR shares. Morgan Stanley raised 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 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.40.

Lamar Advertising 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.