Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 86,931 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Free Report) by 9.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 850,509 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 86,931 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.83% of Lamar Advertising worth $113,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Lamar Advertising by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,332,586 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $159,283,000 after purchasing an additional 75,955 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 4.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 566,644 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $67,664,000 after buying an additional 22,382 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in Lamar Advertising by 2.0% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 407,813 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $54,484,000 after buying an additional 8,135 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 3.8% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 370,275 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,259,000 after buying an additional 13,444 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,665,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.78% of the company's stock.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of LAMR stock opened at $130.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07 and a beta of 1.52. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $132.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.73. Lamar Advertising has a fifty-two week low of $97.54 and a fifty-two week high of $139.88.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.17 by ($0.73). Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.46% and a return on equity of 42.58%. The company had revenue of $564.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $568.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.04 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.30%. This is a boost from Lamar Advertising's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Lamar Advertising's payout ratio is currently 112.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAMR has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lamar Advertising from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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 note on Monday, November 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.40.

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.

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