Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $818,000 Stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Free Report) by 94.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,723 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 3,273 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in Lamar Advertising by 453.6% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,660,664 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $323,900,000 after acquiring an additional 2,180,011 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 545,606 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Lamar Advertising by 108.3% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 905,368 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $110,220,000 after purchasing an additional 470,805 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the fourth quarter worth $57,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 50.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LAMR shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.60.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LAMR traded up $0.66 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $115.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 496,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 514,982. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $112.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Lamar Advertising has a fifty-two week low of $99.84 and a fifty-two week high of $139.88. The company has a market capitalization of $11.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.67 and a beta of 1.38.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.06. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 30.20%. The firm had revenue of $505.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $509.72 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Lamar Advertising's dividend payout ratio is 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.