Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Shares Sold by Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. cut its position in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,579 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 658 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $4,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LAMR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Lamar Advertising by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,708,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,517,554,000 after acquiring an additional 68,484 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,770,668 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $210,889,000 after purchasing an additional 7,794 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 6.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,332,586 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $159,283,000 after purchasing an additional 75,955 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the fourth quarter worth approximately $111,255,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Lamar Advertising by 81.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 937,440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $112,052,000 after buying an additional 420,311 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAMR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Lamar Advertising in a report on Thursday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $132.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised Lamar Advertising from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. TD Cowen upped their target price on Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.00.

Lamar Advertising Stock Up 1.5 %

LAMR opened at $133.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.65 billion, a PE ratio of 27.42 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a 50-day moving average of $121.49 and a 200-day moving average of $118.44. Lamar Advertising has a fifty-two week low of $77.21 and a fifty-two week high of $134.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.67). The business had revenue of $565.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $564.96 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.34% and a return on equity of 42.18%. Lamar Advertising’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.19%. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.99%.

About Lamar Advertising

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.