Sterling Capital Management LLC Acquires 1,331 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 46.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,331 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,527,270 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $672,890,000 after acquiring an additional 545,606 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in Lamar Advertising by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,423,981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $295,122,000 after purchasing an additional 152,575 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,114,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $257,414,000 after purchasing an additional 59,039 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 6.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,497,702 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $200,093,000 after purchasing an additional 90,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,102,242 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $134,187,000 after buying an additional 9,146 shares during the period. 93.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lamar Advertising Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ LAMR opened at $108.99 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.59. Lamar Advertising has a 12 month low of $99.84 and a 12 month high of $139.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.16 billion, a PE ratio of 30.88 and a beta of 1.34.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $579.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $583.19 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 30.20%. Equities analysts expect that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 175.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target 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. cut their target price on Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.60.

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.