Empowered Funds LLC Grows Position in Lamar Advertising Company $LAMR

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Lamar Advertising Company shares by 24.9% in Q1, bringing its total holdings to 38,906 shares valued at approximately $4.43 million.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Lamar Advertising, with Citigroup upgrading it from "neutral" to "buy" and raising the price target, while JPMorgan and Wells Fargo have reduced their targets, indicating a cautious outlook.
• Lamar Advertising recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.22 per share, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.55 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 4.9%.

Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR - Free Report) by 24.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,906 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 7,751 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $4,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 26,900.0% in the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 270 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 346.0% in the 1st quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 281 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 79.5% in the 1st quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 316 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LAMR. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Lamar Advertising from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $114.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $134.20.

Lamar Advertising Stock Down 0.5%

LAMR stock traded down $0.64 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $125.98. 118,315 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 620,656. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $124.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.22. Lamar Advertising Company has a 52 week low of $99.84 and a 52 week high of $139.88. The company has a market cap of $12.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30 and a beta of 1.38.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.74. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 41.85%. The firm had revenue of $579.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $580.72 million. Lamar Advertising has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.090-6.11 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising Company will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. Lamar Advertising's payout ratio is currently 144.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lamar Advertising news, CFO Jay Lecoryelle Johnson sold 22,000 shares of Lamar Advertising stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.28, for a total value of $2,734,160.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 14.99% of the company's stock.

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.