Whittier Trust Co. Purchases 130 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 144.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 220 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $26,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAMR. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Lamar Advertising in the fourth quarter valued at about $111,255,000. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,953,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $313,871,000 after acquiring an additional 727,207 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 97.6% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 913,833 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $98,347,000 after acquiring an additional 451,429 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the 4th quarter worth $38,406,000. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 1,252.8% in the 4th quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 340,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,154,000 after purchasing an additional 315,034 shares in the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on LAMR. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup cut shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. StockNews.com raised Lamar Advertising from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lamar Advertising has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.25.

Lamar Advertising Trading Up 1.4 %

LAMR opened at $125.78 on Friday. Lamar Advertising has a twelve month low of $77.21 and a twelve month high of $125.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $118.82 and a 200-day moving average of $116.56. The stock has a market cap of $12.86 billion, a PE ratio of 25.83 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.67). Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 41.86% and a net margin of 23.29%. The business had revenue of $565.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $564.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is presently 106.78%.

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.