Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Reduces Stock Holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 16.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,997 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $1,404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LAMR. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 4th quarter worth approximately $111,255,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Lamar Advertising during the 4th quarter valued at $1,280,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Lamar Advertising during the 1st quarter valued at $342,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Lamar Advertising during the 1st quarter valued at $1,566,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup cut Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Lamar Advertising in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $132.00 price objective for the company. 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.00.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of LAMR stock opened at $136.59 on Thursday. Lamar Advertising has a twelve month low of $79.94 and a twelve month high of $139.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31.

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

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is presently 114.99%.

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.