iA Global Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,220 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Lamar Advertising by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,708,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,517,554,000 after acquiring an additional 68,484 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in Lamar Advertising by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,953,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $313,871,000 after acquiring an additional 727,207 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 0.4% in the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,770,668 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $210,889,000 after purchasing an additional 7,794 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising in the fourth quarter valued at $111,255,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,040,023 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $110,534,000 after purchasing an additional 30,567 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lamar Advertising Trading Up 1.4 %

LAMR stock opened at $125.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.64. Lamar Advertising has a 52 week low of $77.21 and a 52 week high of $125.89. The company has a market capitalization of $12.86 billion, a PE ratio of 25.83 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.