Greenleaf Trust Raises Stock Position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,959 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 878 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 56,213 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,974,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,742 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,673,000 after buying an additional 1,289 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,574,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Lamar Advertising in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,614,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 64.4% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,152 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on 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 Lamar Advertising from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jay Lecoryelle Johnson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total value of $594,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,189,700. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 14.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

LAMR opened at $113.71 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $11.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.45 and a beta of 1.50. Lamar Advertising has a 1-year low of $77.21 and a 1-year high of $121.99.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.46 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $555.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $549.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.57%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is 107.22%.

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.