Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,681 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $1,773,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 43.7% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 493 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising in the fourth quarter valued at about $57,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 249.0% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 705 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the third quarter worth about $108,000. 93.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAMR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lamar Advertising from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Lamar Advertising stock opened at $114.37 on Friday. Lamar Advertising has a 1 year low of $77.21 and a 1 year high of $121.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $114.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.67. The company has a market cap of $11.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.49). Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 41.88%. The company had revenue of $555.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $549.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is currently 107.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lamar Advertising news, CFO Jay Lecoryelle Johnson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total transaction of $594,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,189,700. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 14.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.