Willis Investment Counsel Makes New $369,000 Investment in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Willis Investment Counsel purchased a new position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,029 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $369,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 4,483 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,813 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Ibex Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,024,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 7,474 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 43.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,247 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 979 shares in the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lamar Advertising from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.40.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of Lamar Advertising stock traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $126.55. 227,634 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 426,318. Lamar Advertising has a fifty-two week low of $102.10 and a fifty-two week high of $139.88. The company has a market cap of $12.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.31 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.69. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.17 by ($0.73). The firm had revenue of $564.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $568.91 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 42.58% and a net margin of 23.46%. Lamar Advertising's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. Lamar Advertising's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.00%.

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.