Natixis Advisors LLC Has $8.13 Million Stock Holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 66,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,514 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $8,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LAMR. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 3rd quarter valued at $443,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 3rd quarter valued at $205,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,382 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,792,000 after purchasing an additional 6,034 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lamar Advertising Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ LAMR opened at $112.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.48 billion, a PE ratio of 31.77 and a beta of 1.53. Lamar Advertising has a 12-month low of $108.80 and a 12-month high of $139.88. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.74. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 30.20%. The firm had revenue of $579.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $583.19 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.53%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is presently 175.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LAMR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.60.

Lamar Advertising Company 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.