California Public Employees Retirement System Has $18.48 Million Position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 173,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,701 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $18,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LAMR. AE Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising during the 3rd quarter valued at $393,000. Accurate Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,438 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $701,000 after buying an additional 1,815 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Lamar Advertising by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 301,307 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,150,000 after buying an additional 24,649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Lamar Advertising by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 55,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,606,000 after buying an additional 2,240 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

LAMR stock opened at $115.39 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. The firm has a market cap of $11.78 billion, a PE ratio of 23.79 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $114.42 and a 200-day moving average of $105.06. Lamar Advertising has a 12-month low of $77.21 and a 12-month high of $121.99.

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

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 107.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jay Lecoryelle Johnson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,700. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 14.98% of the company’s stock.

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.