Schroder Investment Management Group Trims Position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Schroder Investment Management Group reduced its holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 220,351 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 26,101 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $26,744,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LAMR. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lamar Advertising in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 58.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAMR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup boosted 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Stock Up 2.3 %

Lamar Advertising stock opened at $115.94 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $11.87 billion, a PE ratio of 32.84 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.68. Lamar Advertising has a 12 month low of $108.80 and a 12 month high of $139.88.

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

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.35%. This is a boost from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is presently 175.64%.

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.