Swiss National Bank Buys 1,400 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 172,838 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.17% of Lamar Advertising worth $21,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 109.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 58.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of LAMR stock opened at $114.47 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $11.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.43 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $123.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.60. Lamar Advertising has a 52 week low of $108.80 and a 52 week high of $139.88.

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

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 175.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAMR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five research 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 a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.60.

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.