Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Free Report) by 39.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,503 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 14,672 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Lamar Advertising worth $7,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Lamar Advertising by 2.9% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,248,660 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $567,632,000 after purchasing an additional 119,068 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,640,356 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $352,752,000 after acquiring an additional 21,852 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,054,962 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $274,595,000 after acquiring an additional 90,775 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,974,848 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $263,840,000 after acquiring an additional 617,356 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 6.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,332,586 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $159,283,000 after acquiring an additional 75,955 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.78% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Lamar Advertising Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LAMR traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $123.50. 496,850 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 416,096. Lamar Advertising has a twelve month low of $100.15 and a twelve month high of $139.88. The company has a market cap of $12.64 billion, a PE ratio of 24.70 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $131.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.45.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $564.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.04 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.53%. Lamar Advertising's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.00%.

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.