D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 115 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

D.A. Davidson & CO. cut its position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,029 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 115 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 444.1% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Concord Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 109.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com lowered Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lamar Advertising has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Lamar Advertising stock opened at $122.59 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.71. Lamar Advertising has a 52 week low of $108.23 and a 52 week high of $139.88. The stock has a market cap of $12.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.73 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48.

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

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.06%. This is a boost from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 175.64%.

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.