Versant Capital Management Inc Acquires 143 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 46.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $55,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 15,173 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,814,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 4.6% in the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,664 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 24,537 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,933,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the period. Gallacher Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the 2nd quarter valued at $807,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Lamar Advertising by 179.4% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 18,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,226,000 after buying an additional 11,967 shares during the period. 93.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAMR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.40.

Lamar Advertising Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $121.66 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Lamar Advertising has a one year low of $100.15 and a one year high of $139.88. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.76.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.17 by ($0.73). The company had revenue of $564.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.91 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 42.58% and a net margin of 23.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.04 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is 112.00%.

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.