KBC Group NV Acquires 234 Shares of Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR)

KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,527,270 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $672,890,000 after purchasing an additional 545,606 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 453.6% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,660,664 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $323,900,000 after buying an additional 2,180,011 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,423,981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $295,122,000 after buying an additional 152,575 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,114,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $257,414,000 after buying an additional 59,039 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,278,397 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $155,632,000 after buying an additional 428,744 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LAMR. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Citigroup upgraded Lamar Advertising from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $114.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.00.

Lamar Advertising Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of LAMR opened at $124.14 on Friday. Lamar Advertising Company has a 52 week low of $99.84 and a 52 week high of $139.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $118.92 and a 200-day moving average of $119.15.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 37.62% and a net margin of 19.08%. The company had revenue of $505.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $509.72 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising Company will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is currently 150.49%.

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.