First Trust Advisors LP Lowers Stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 79,444 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 5,120 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.08% of Lamar Advertising worth $9,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LAMR. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising during the third quarter worth $323,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 39.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 51,503 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,017,000 after acquiring an additional 14,672 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising during the third quarter worth approximately $3,216,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,497,702 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $200,093,000 after acquiring an additional 90,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 46.6% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 450 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAMR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lamar Advertising presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $132.60.

Lamar Advertising Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Lamar Advertising stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $114.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 951,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 496,005. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $114.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.31. The company has a market capitalization of $11.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.29 and a beta of 1.34. Lamar Advertising has a one year low of $99.84 and a one year high of $139.88.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.74. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 30.20% and a net margin of 16.40%. The company had revenue of $579.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $583.19 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Lamar Advertising's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 175.64%.

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.