Allworth Financial LP Decreases Holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Allworth Financial LP trimmed its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 23.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 104 shares during the quarter. Allworth Financial LP’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $36,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 106.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 17,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,009,000 after buying an additional 8,912 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 25.7% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,607 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $651,000 after buying an additional 1,146 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 23.6% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 42,320 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,916,000 after buying an additional 8,070 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 10.9% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 51,280 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,130,000 after buying an additional 5,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 11.4% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,006 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lamar Advertising news, CFO Jay Lecoryelle Johnson sold 5,000 shares of Lamar Advertising stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total transaction of $594,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,189,700. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 14.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LAMR. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lamar Advertising from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Lamar Advertising stock opened at $111.67 on Monday. Lamar Advertising has a 12-month low of $77.21 and a 12-month high of $121.99. The stock has a market cap of $11.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $112.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.49). Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 41.88% and a net margin of 23.49%. The firm had revenue of $555.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $549.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 107.22%.

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.