Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 4,611 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Foster & Motley Inc. lowered its stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 48.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,989 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,611 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LAMR. Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 8,956 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $742,000 after acquiring an additional 2,984 shares during the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 390,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,500,000 after buying an additional 22,778 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 12.0% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 90,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,521,000 after acquiring an additional 9,640 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Lamar Advertising by 43.7% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 493 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 13.7% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 7,982 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $664,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lamar Advertising from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of LAMR stock opened at $114.06 on Thursday. Lamar Advertising has a 52 week low of $77.21 and a 52 week high of $121.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52 and a beta of 1.50.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.49). Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 41.88%. The business had revenue of $555.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $549.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.56%. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is presently 107.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lamar Advertising

In related news, CFO Jay Lecoryelle Johnson sold 5,000 shares of Lamar Advertising stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total value of $594,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,189,700. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 14.98% of the company’s stock.

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.