Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 59,062 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 71.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 142,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 59,062 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.14% of Lamar Advertising worth $17,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew 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 worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 584 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Lamar Advertising by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LAMR shares. Citigroup upped their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of LAMR stock opened at $113.68 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.20 and a beta of 1.34. Lamar Advertising has a 52 week low of $99.84 and a 52 week high of $139.88. The business has a 50 day moving average of $118.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $125.51.

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

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. 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. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.45%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 175.64%.

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.