Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Sells 1,073 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 42.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,460 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,073 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LAMR. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 453.6% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,660,664 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $323,900,000 after acquiring an additional 2,180,011 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,527,270 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $672,890,000 after acquiring an additional 545,606 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 108.3% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 905,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $110,220,000 after acquiring an additional 470,805 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 4th quarter valued at about $57,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 50.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,278,397 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $155,632,000 after acquiring an additional 428,744 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on LAMR shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised Lamar Advertising from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $114.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.00.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

NASDAQ LAMR opened at $119.26 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $12.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78 and a beta of 1.34. Lamar Advertising has a 52-week low of $99.84 and a 52-week high of $139.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $505.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $509.72 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 30.20%. Analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.20%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is currently 150.49%.

Lamar Advertising Company 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.