Boston Trust Walden Corp Increases Stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 407,813 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,135 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $54,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAMR. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 444.1% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 144.4% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 220 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Lamar Advertising in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the second quarter worth $45,000. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAMR has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com raised Lamar Advertising from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Lamar Advertising in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $132.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup lowered Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.00.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LAMR traded down $1.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $134.69. The stock had a trading volume of 192,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 401,422. The company has a 50 day moving average of $129.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.42. Lamar Advertising has a twelve month low of $79.94 and a twelve month high of $139.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $13.78 billion, a PE ratio of 27.32 and a beta of 1.52.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.67). Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.34% and a return on equity of 42.18%. The firm had revenue of $565.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $564.96 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is 113.59%.

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.