Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Takes $291,000 Position in Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC invested approximately $291,000 in Lamar Advertising, purchasing 2,557 shares of the company.
• Lamar Advertising reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.60, exceeding analyst expectations, and declared a $1.55 dividend per share with a yield of 4.94%.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed opinions on Lamar Advertising, with Citigroup upgrading it to a "buy" rating, while Morgan Stanley lowered its price target.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,557 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 453.6% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,660,664 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $323,900,000 after buying an additional 2,180,011 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $672,890,000 after buying an additional 545,606 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lamar Advertising in the fourth quarter valued at about $57,255,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Lamar Advertising by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,278,397 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $155,632,000 after buying an additional 428,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Lamar Advertising in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,023,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.78% of the company's stock.

Lamar Advertising Stock Down 0.0%

LAMR traded down $0.01 on Wednesday, hitting $124.55. 116,301 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 602,533. Lamar Advertising Company has a twelve month low of $99.84 and a twelve month high of $139.88. The company has a market cap of $12.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.22 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $121.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.50.

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

Lamar Advertising Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.98%. Lamar Advertising's dividend payout ratio is currently 150.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAMR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised Lamar Advertising from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $114.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lamar Advertising currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $134.00.

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.