First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 31,430 Shares of Lamar Advertising Company $LAMR

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 118.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 57,909 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,430 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $7,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,872,000. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Lamar Advertising by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 232,235 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,396,000 after buying an additional 10,265 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. raised its stake in Lamar Advertising by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 185,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,417,000 after buying an additional 15,000 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Lamar Advertising by 67.8% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 34,586 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,378,000 after buying an additional 13,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 771,959 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $97,715,000 after acquiring an additional 27,907 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of LAMR opened at $159.96 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $141.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33. Lamar Advertising Company has a 12 month low of $113.66 and a 12 month high of $166.33. The company has a market cap of $16.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.51 and a beta of 1.19.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $528.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $522.86 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 55.53% and a net margin of 24.01%. Research analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising Company will post 8.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is presently 118.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen increased their target price on Lamar Advertising from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $145.00 price target on Lamar Advertising in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $136.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Lamar Advertising in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.67.

Lamar Advertising Company Profile

Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ: LAMR) is one of North America’s largest outdoor advertising firms, specializing in out-of-home media solutions. Since its founding in 1902, the company has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to offer a broad portfolio of advertising products. Its core business centers on billboard advertising, encompassing traditional static billboards and a rapidly expanding network of digital displays. These assets enable advertisers to reach consumers with high-impact messaging along highways, in urban centers, and at high-traffic intersections.

In addition to highway billboards, Lamar offers a variety of supplemental out-of-home formats, including transit advertising on buses and shelters, and logo signage at travel plazas and gas stations.