Zacks Investment Management Acquires 7,191 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Zacks Investment Management raised its holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Free Report) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 344,343 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 7,191 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management owned about 0.34% of Lamar Advertising worth $41,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LAMR. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in Lamar Advertising by 453.6% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,660,664 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $323,900,000 after purchasing an additional 2,180,011 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,527,270 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $672,890,000 after buying an additional 545,606 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 108.3% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 905,368 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $110,220,000 after acquiring an additional 470,805 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,255,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the fourth quarter worth $48,023,000. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LAMR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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 lifted their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

LAMR traded up $1.96 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $108.99. The stock had a trading volume of 608,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 488,534. Lamar Advertising has a 1 year low of $99.84 and a 1 year high of $139.88. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $116.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.38. The stock has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a PE ratio of 30.88 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.74. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 30.20%. The firm had revenue of $579.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $583.19 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This is a boost from Lamar Advertising's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.69%. Lamar Advertising's payout ratio is presently 175.64%.

Lamar Advertising 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.