Arizona State Retirement System Acquires 469 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 1.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,537 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $2,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Lamar Advertising in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 144.4% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 220 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Lamar Advertising in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lamar Advertising in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAMR has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup cut 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. lifted their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lamar Advertising from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.25.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $122.74 on Tuesday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $77.21 and a fifty-two week high of $126.80. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.38. The company has a market capitalization of $12.56 billion, a PE ratio of 25.20 and a beta of 1.52.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $565.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $564.96 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 42.18% and a net margin of 23.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.56%. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is currently 106.78%.

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.