Arizona State Retirement System Has $3.10 Million Holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,460 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $3,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,974,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $263,840,000 after acquiring an additional 617,356 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,665,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Lamar Advertising by 148.9% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 434,563 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,058,000 after purchasing an additional 259,979 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 631.7% in the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 180,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,088,000 after purchasing an additional 155,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 129.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 235,267 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,432,000 after buying an additional 132,734 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAMR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of LAMR stock opened at $125.28 on Monday. Lamar Advertising has a 12 month low of $108.80 and a 12 month high of $139.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.83 billion, a PE ratio of 35.49 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.99. 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 earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.74. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 30.20%. The company had revenue of $579.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $583.19 million. Analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.95%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is 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.