7,683 Shares in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Purchased by FIL Ltd

FIL Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,683 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $935,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAMR. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,101 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Lamar Advertising by 6.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Lamar Advertising by 39.8% during 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 period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,911 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $598,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 450 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on LAMR shares. 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 report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of LAMR stock traded up $1.96 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $108.99. 608,723 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 486,771. Lamar Advertising has a 52-week low of $99.84 and a 52-week 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. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.88 and a beta of 1.34.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $579.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $583.19 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 30.20% and a net margin of 16.40%. Research analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.69%. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Lamar Advertising's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 175.64%.

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.