4,408 Shares in Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) Bought by First National Advisers LLC

Key Points

• First National Advisers LLC acquired 4,408 shares of Lamar Advertising Company, valued at approximately $502,000, as part of their new position in the stock during the 1st quarter.
• Morgan Stanley and Citigroup have recently adjusted their ratings for Lamar Advertising, with Morgan Stanley lowering its price target to $125.00 while Citigroup upgraded it to a "buy" rating and increased the target to $135.00.
• Lamar Advertising announced a quarterly dividend of $1.55, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 4.94%, despite having a high dividend payout ratio of 150.49%.

First National Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,408 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $502,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,121 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 33.9% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 371 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 28,765 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,502,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 4,455 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 41,071 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,000,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on LAMR shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Lamar Advertising from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $114.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $134.00.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of LAMR traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $122.56. 204,360 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 602,346. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $121.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.52. The company has a market cap of $12.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Lamar Advertising Company has a 1 year low of $99.84 and a 1 year high of $139.88.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 19.08% and a return on equity of 37.62%. The firm had revenue of $505.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $509.72 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lamar Advertising Company will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.06%. Lamar Advertising's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 150.49%.

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.