Northern Trust Corp Boosts Stock Position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Free Report) by 50.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,278,397 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 428,744 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.25% of Lamar Advertising worth $155,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LAMR. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 2,424.4% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 229,422 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $27,930,000 after purchasing an additional 220,334 shares during the last quarter. Crossingbridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,826,000. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 19,682 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,396,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 70,316 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,560,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 16,988 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,055,000 after acquiring an additional 2,729 shares during the period. 93.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LAMR traded down $0.15 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $116.05. The company had a trading volume of 693,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 494,588. Lamar Advertising has a fifty-two week low of $99.84 and a fifty-two week high of $139.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.88 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.34%. Lamar Advertising's dividend payout ratio is presently 175.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on LAMR. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company 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 company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.60.

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.