Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 24,600 Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 24,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,614,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LAMR. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 106.4% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 17,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,009,000 after purchasing an additional 8,912 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,607 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 42,320 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,916,000 after purchasing an additional 8,070 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 51,280 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,130,000 after purchasing an additional 5,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,006 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lamar Advertising Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ LAMR opened at $111.20 on Tuesday. Lamar Advertising has a 52 week low of $77.21 and a 52 week high of $121.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.93 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $113.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.79.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.49). Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 41.88% and a net margin of 23.49%. The company had revenue of $555.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $549.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is 107.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Lamar Advertising from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lamar Advertising from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th.

Insider Transactions at Lamar Advertising

In other news, CFO Jay Lecoryelle Johnson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total transaction of $594,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,189,700. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 14.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.