Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 59,062 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 71.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 142,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 59,062 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $17,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,101 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,108,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 6.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,497,702 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $200,093,000 after buying an additional 90,933 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 19,961.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 110,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,741,000 after acquiring an additional 109,790 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 39.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 51,503 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,017,000 after purchasing an additional 14,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,911 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Stock Up 11.1 %

LAMR stock opened at $113.68 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $118.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.51. Lamar Advertising has a 1-year low of $99.84 and a 1-year high of $139.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.64 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $579.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $583.19 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 30.20%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.45%. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is 175.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAMR has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $134.60.

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.