Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $27.22 Million Stock Holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 203,751 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 88,924 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.20% of Lamar Advertising worth $27,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 45.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,974,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $263,840,000 after purchasing an additional 617,356 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position 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 buying an additional 420,311 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lamar Advertising in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,665,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 49,140.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 285,102 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,090,000 after buying an additional 284,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Lamar Advertising by 148.9% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 434,563 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,058,000 after acquiring an additional 259,979 shares during the period. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on LAMR. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.40.

Lamar Advertising Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ LAMR opened at $123.44 on Wednesday. Lamar Advertising has a 1-year low of $100.15 and a 1-year high of $139.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $131.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $125.45. The company has a market cap of $12.64 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.17 by ($0.73). The company had revenue of $564.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $568.91 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 42.58% and a net margin of 23.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lamar Advertising will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.54%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.00%.

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.