HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 19,316 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 646,266 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,316 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $78,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Lamar Advertising by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,248,660 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $567,632,000 after buying an additional 119,068 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,640,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $352,752,000 after purchasing an additional 21,852 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,054,962 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $274,595,000 after purchasing an additional 90,775 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 617,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 6.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of LAMR stock opened at $114.26 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.88. 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 market cap of $11.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37 and a beta of 1.53. Lamar Advertising has a one year low of $108.80 and a one year high of $139.88.

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

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.43%. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is currently 175.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Lamar Advertising 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.