Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Shares Purchased by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 41.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $77,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LAMR. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the fourth quarter worth about $111,255,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 81.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 937,440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $112,052,000 after acquiring an additional 420,311 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Lamar Advertising by 82.8% in the 1st quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 621,763 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $72,031,000 after purchasing an additional 281,582 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 6.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,332,586 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $159,283,000 after purchasing an additional 75,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,708,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,517,554,000 after purchasing an additional 68,484 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Lamar Advertising in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $132.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen raised 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 lowered shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.00.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of Lamar Advertising stock opened at $138.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.12 billion, a PE ratio of 28.36 and a beta of 1.52. Lamar Advertising has a 1 year low of $79.94 and a 1 year high of $138.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.41.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.67). The company had revenue of $565.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $564.96 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.34% and a return on equity of 42.18%. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 yield of 4.05%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.99%.

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.