Crestline Management LP Increases Holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Crestline Management LP lifted its position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Free Report) by 101.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,123 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 2,574 shares during the quarter. Crestline Management LP's holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Lamar Advertising by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,101 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Lamar Advertising by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,497,702 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $200,093,000 after acquiring an additional 90,933 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Lamar Advertising by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 51,503 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $7,017,000 after acquiring an additional 14,672 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Lamar Advertising by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,911 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $598,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Lamar Advertising by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 12,042 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five investment 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 has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.60.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

LAMR stock traded up $1.50 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $117.24. 130,099 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 507,767. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $112.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.95. The stock has a market cap of $12.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.20 and a beta of 1.38. Lamar Advertising has a fifty-two week low of $99.84 and a fifty-two week high of $139.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56.

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

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Lamar Advertising's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Lamar Advertising's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.