KBC Group NV Buys 45,413 Shares of Lamar Advertising Company $LAMR

KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 1,940.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 47,753 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,413 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $6,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. SEB Asset Management AB bought a new position in Lamar Advertising in the 1st quarter worth $1,321,000. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 0.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 171,838 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $21,765,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. MTM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 121.5% during the 1st quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 5,760 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $730,000 after purchasing an additional 3,160 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Finally, Kera Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 7,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $921,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAMR has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $153.00 price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $145.00 target price on shares of Lamar Advertising in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $145.00 to $160.00 in a report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Lamar Advertising in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.67.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of LAMR stock opened at $157.73 on Friday. Lamar Advertising Company has a 12 month low of $113.66 and a 12 month high of $164.38. The company has a market capitalization of $16.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.10 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $154.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $528.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $522.86 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 55.53% and a net margin of 24.01%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lamar Advertising Company will post 8.41 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is 118.08%.

About Lamar Advertising

Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ: LAMR) is one of North America’s largest outdoor advertising firms, specializing in out-of-home media solutions. Since its founding in 1902, the company has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to offer a broad portfolio of advertising products. Its core business centers on billboard advertising, encompassing traditional static billboards and a rapidly expanding network of digital displays. These assets enable advertisers to reach consumers with high-impact messaging along highways, in urban centers, and at high-traffic intersections.

In addition to highway billboards, Lamar offers a variety of supplemental out-of-home formats, including transit advertising on buses and shelters, and logo signage at travel plazas and gas stations.