Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 1,284 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 58,165 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $7,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its stake in Lamar Advertising by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 3,499 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 18,375 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,237,000 after purchasing an additional 2,968 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising during the fourth quarter valued at about $341,000. Twin City Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Twin City Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,630 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,146,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 94,019 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,446,000 after buying an additional 9,455 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of LAMR stock opened at $113.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $11.65 billion, a PE ratio of 32.23 and a beta of 1.53. Lamar Advertising has a 1 year low of $108.80 and a 1 year high of $139.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $126.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.74. The company 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%. Research analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. 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. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.45%. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is currently 175.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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 raised their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lamar Advertising has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Company 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.