Greenleaf Trust Acquires 878 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,959 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 878 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LAMR. Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 50.0% during the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 8,956 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $742,000 after buying an additional 2,984 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 390,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,500,000 after acquiring an additional 22,778 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 90,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,521,000 after acquiring an additional 9,640 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 43.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 493 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 7,982 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $664,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the period. 93.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lamar Advertising news, CFO Jay Lecoryelle Johnson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total transaction of $594,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,189,700. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 14.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $113.71 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $113.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.45 and a beta of 1.50. Lamar Advertising has a one year low of $77.21 and a one year high of $121.99.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $549.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.91 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. 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 4.57%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is 107.22%.

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.