Xponance Inc. Grows Stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,022 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 444 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $1,464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,060 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 19,259 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,442,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 878 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of LAMR stock opened at $111.19 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $123.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $127.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56. Lamar Advertising has a one year low of $108.80 and a one year high of $139.88. The firm has a market cap of $11.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.50 and a beta of 1.53.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $579.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $583.19 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is presently 175.64%.

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.