Venturi Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 44.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,439 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $175,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,248,660 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $567,632,000 after purchasing an additional 119,068 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position 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 valued at $352,752,000 after purchasing an additional 21,852 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 valued at $274,595,000 after purchasing an additional 90,775 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position 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 valued at $263,840,000 after purchasing an additional 617,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position 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 valued at $200,093,000 after purchasing an additional 90,933 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Trading Down 0.3 %

LAMR stock opened at $121.91 on Friday. Lamar Advertising has a 1-year low of $107.22 and a 1-year high of $139.88. 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 company has a market capitalization of $12.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.38 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.31.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted 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. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 42.58% and a net margin of 23.46%. The business had revenue of $579.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $583.19 million. Research analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.09%. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAMR has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.40.

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.