Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Purchases 598 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 598 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $3,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,101 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 6.5% during 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 buying an additional 90,933 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 19,961.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 110,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,741,000 after buying an additional 109,790 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 39.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 51,503 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,017,000 after buying an additional 14,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Lamar Advertising by 96.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 97,498 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,026,000 after acquiring an additional 47,746 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of LAMR stock opened at $112.86 on Tuesday. Lamar Advertising has a 52-week low of $108.80 and a 52-week high of $139.88. 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 cap of $11.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.97 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.25.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $579.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $583.19 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 30.20% and a net margin of 16.40%. On average, equities analysts expect that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 175.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. Citigroup upped their target price on Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five investment 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 company currently 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.