B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Cuts Position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 34.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,252 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,176 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SPC Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 3,003 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC lifted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 2.6% in the first quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 4,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its position in Lamar Advertising by 1.8% during the second quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 6,603 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $789,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 0.4% during the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 27,614 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,301,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NovaPoint Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 3.9% in the second quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $132.93 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. Lamar Advertising has a twelve month low of $77.79 and a twelve month high of $137.40. The stock has a market cap of $13.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30 and a beta of 1.52. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.78.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.67). Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.34% and a return on equity of 42.18%. The company had revenue of $565.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $564.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.21%. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LAMR. Citigroup cut Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Lamar Advertising in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $132.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.00.

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.