Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Shares Sold by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lessened its stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 63.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 15,803 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $1,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,708,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,517,554,000 after purchasing an additional 68,484 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,953,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $313,871,000 after purchasing an additional 727,207 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,770,668 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $210,889,000 after purchasing an additional 7,794 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 4th quarter valued at about $111,255,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,040,023 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $110,534,000 after buying an additional 30,567 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John E. Koerner III sold 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.05, for a total value of $2,040,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,178 shares in the company, valued at $3,862,968.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 14.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LAMR. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Lamar Advertising in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Lamar Advertising from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lamar Advertising has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.00.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

NASDAQ LAMR traded up $1.39 on Monday, hitting $121.29. The stock had a trading volume of 277,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 405,723. Lamar Advertising has a one year low of $77.21 and a one year high of $123.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The stock has a market cap of $12.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.62 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $118.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.80.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.71). Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 41.86% and a net margin of 23.29%. The firm had revenue of $498.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $496.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. Lamar Advertising’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Lamar Advertising will post 7.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.78%.

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.