Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Buys 165 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 16,724 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $2,036,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Lamar Advertising during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Lamar Advertising during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 58.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 46.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Lamar Advertising by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lamar Advertising presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $112.55 on Friday. Lamar Advertising has a 12 month low of $108.80 and a 12 month high of $139.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $122.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $126.99. The company has a market cap of $11.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88 and a beta of 1.53.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $579.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $583.19 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 30.20% and a net margin of 16.40%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is currently 175.64%.

Lamar Advertising Company Profile

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.