Ellsworth Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,296 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $1,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Lamar Advertising by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,248,660 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $567,632,000 after purchasing an additional 119,068 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,640,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $352,752,000 after acquiring an additional 21,852 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,054,962 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $274,595,000 after acquiring an additional 90,775 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,974,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $263,840,000 after acquiring an additional 617,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Lamar Advertising by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,497,702 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $200,093,000 after purchasing an additional 90,933 shares during the period. 93.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAMR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.40.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of LAMR opened at $125.25 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $12.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48. The business’s 50 day moving average is $126.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.04. Lamar Advertising has a 52-week low of $102.10 and a 52-week high of $139.88.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.17 by ($0.73). The company had revenue of $564.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $568.91 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.46% and a return on equity of 42.58%. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.00%.

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.