Bank of America Corp DE Acquires 14,676 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Free Report) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 414,176 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 14,676 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.40% of Lamar Advertising worth $50,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Lamar Advertising by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,101 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 6.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,497,702 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $200,093,000 after purchasing an additional 90,933 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,911 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $598,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in 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 worth $1,466,000 after buying an additional 1,087 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on LAMR. Citigroup raised their price target on Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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 reduced their target price on Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.60.

Lamar Advertising Stock Up 2.6%

LAMR stock traded up $3.00 during trading on Friday, reaching $119.87. 811,504 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 511,600. The firm's 50 day moving average is $112.52 and its 200 day moving average is $121.73. Lamar Advertising has a twelve month low of $99.84 and a twelve month high of $139.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48. The firm has a market cap of $12.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.96 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Lamar Advertising Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Lamar Advertising's payout ratio is currently 150.49%.

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.