Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Buys 2,661 Shares of Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR - Free Report) by 11.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,792 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 2,661 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $3,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Lamar Advertising by 33.9% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 371 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 101.2% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,446 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising during the 1st quarter worth $1,007,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Lamar Advertising by 9.3% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,584 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $635,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAMR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upgraded 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 research report 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $134.00.

Lamar Advertising Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of LAMR stock traded down $1.66 on Friday, hitting $120.59. 358,589 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 603,821. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.28 and a beta of 1.33. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $122.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.54. Lamar Advertising Company has a one year low of $99.84 and a one year high of $139.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57.

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

Lamar Advertising Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Lamar Advertising's payout ratio is presently 150.49%.

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.