Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $4.39 Million Holdings in Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its holdings in Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR - Free Report) by 33.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,599 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 19,350 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $4,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,121 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $867,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in Lamar Advertising by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 878 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its position in Lamar Advertising by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 3,499 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, First Manhattan CO. LLC. lifted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 28,765 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,502,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of Lamar Advertising stock traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $125.67. 327,421 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 533,660. 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 Company has a 1-year low of $99.84 and a 1-year high of $139.88. The company has a market cap of $12.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.50 and a beta of 1.33. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $119.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.19.

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 EPS 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 anticipate that Lamar Advertising Company will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.93%. Lamar Advertising's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 150.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LAMR. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised Lamar Advertising from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $114.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lamar Advertising currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $134.00.

About Lamar Advertising

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.