Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) Shares Sold by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. has reduced its stake in Lamar Advertising Company by 73.5%, leaving it with holdings valued at $388,000 after selling 9,440 shares in the first quarter.
• Several other hedge funds, including Assetmark Inc., increased their positions in Lamar Advertising, indicating a mixed sentiment among institutional investors regarding the company's stock.
• Lamar Advertising recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.55, with an annualized payout of $6.20 that yields 5.1%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 150.49%.

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR - Free Report) by 73.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,410 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 9,440 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAMR. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Lamar Advertising by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 94,019 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $11,446,000 after acquiring an additional 9,455 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,295 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising during the fourth quarter valued at about $57,255,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 12,042 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 6,907 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $841,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of LAMR stock traded up $2.80 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $123.71. The stock had a trading volume of 382,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 423,686. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 1.36. Lamar Advertising Company has a twelve month low of $99.84 and a twelve month high of $139.88. The stock's 50 day moving average is $122.16 and its 200 day moving average is $119.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 37.62% and a net margin of 19.08%. The company had revenue of $505.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $509.72 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising Company will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued 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 yield of 5.0%. Lamar Advertising's payout ratio is currently 150.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on LAMR. Citigroup upgraded Lamar Advertising from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $114.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Four investment 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 company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $136.00.

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.