Easterly Investment Partners LLC Sells 48,645 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 53.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,971 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 48,645 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $5,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LAMR. Carmel Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,060 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $494,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lamar Advertising by 0.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 878 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $113.98 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.67 billion, a PE ratio of 32.29 and a beta of 1.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $122.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $127.09. Lamar Advertising has a twelve month low of $108.80 and a twelve month high of $139.88.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $579.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $583.19 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 30.20%. Equities research analysts expect 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 issued a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.44%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 175.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAMR has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.