Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Shares Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 17.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $2,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LAMR. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 31.2% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 16,085 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,921,000 after acquiring an additional 3,829 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 4,897 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in Lamar Advertising by 1.9% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 29,205 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,390,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in Lamar Advertising by 18.8% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,301 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the period. Finally, PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new position in Lamar Advertising during the first quarter valued at $765,000. 93.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Lamar Advertising stock opened at $127.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $13.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.51 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.57. Lamar Advertising has a 1-year low of $97.21 and a 1-year high of $139.88.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by ($0.73). The business had revenue of $564.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.91 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.46% and a return on equity of 42.58%. Lamar Advertising’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on LAMR. TD Cowen increased their target price on Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.40.

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.