Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR – Get Rating) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,360 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 390 shares during the quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $2,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LAMR. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 186.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,418,785 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $164,834,000 after acquiring an additional 923,689 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,112,703 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $339,257,000 after buying an additional 536,345 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 48.8% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,154,284 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $101,542,000 after buying an additional 378,374 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,607,951 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $132,674,000 after buying an additional 338,090 shares during the period. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 300.5% in the 3rd quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 417,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,407,000 after buying an additional 312,957 shares during the period. 79.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $108.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Lamar Advertising in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.75.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LAMR opened at $95.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.50. Lamar Advertising has a fifty-two week low of $81.10 and a fifty-two week high of $119.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.20 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $103.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.25.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($1.04). The business had revenue of $535.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $536.42 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 35.56% and a net margin of 21.58%. Lamar Advertising’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 16th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.21%. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is 111.11%.

Lamar Advertising Profile

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Lamar Advertising Co engages in advertising services. The firm rents advertising space on billboards, buses, shelters, benches, logo plates, and in airport terminals. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, LA.