Willis Investment Counsel Acquires Shares of 3,029 Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Willis Investment Counsel acquired a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,029 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $369,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Lamar Advertising by 444.1% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Lamar Advertising by 109.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Lamar Advertising by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LAMR. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.40.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $126.42 on Monday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $125.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.57. Lamar Advertising has a 52 week low of $102.10 and a 52 week high of $139.88. The company has a market cap of $12.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Lamar Advertising Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.00%.

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.