Wedbush Securities Inc. Grows Stock Position in Lamar Advertising Company $LAMR

Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 21.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $275,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LAMR. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in Lamar Advertising by 100.5% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 27,240 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,306,000 after purchasing an additional 13,652 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 8,572 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,040,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 15.9% in the second quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 464,066 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $56,319,000 after acquiring an additional 63,746 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Lamar Advertising in the second quarter worth about $3,188,000. Finally, Ellevest Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $280,000. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on LAMR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Lamar Advertising from $122.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered Lamar Advertising from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.25.

Lamar Advertising Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of Lamar Advertising stock opened at $130.23 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45. The company has a market cap of $13.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.09 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $122.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.64. Lamar Advertising Company has a 52-week low of $99.84 and a 52-week high of $135.91.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $585.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $584.00 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 41.85%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lamar Advertising Company will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 19th were paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 19th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is presently 145.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jay Lecoryelle Johnson sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.28, for a total value of $2,734,160.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 14.99% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.