Meridian Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 31,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $4,250,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of LAMR. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Lamar Advertising by 31.2% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 16,085 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,921,000 after purchasing an additional 3,829 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 29,205 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,390,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,301 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. PEAK6 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 1st quarter valued at $765,000. Finally, BOKF NA lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 30.7% in the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 34,867 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,048,000 after purchasing an additional 8,182 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LAMR has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.40.

Lamar Advertising Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of LAMR stock opened at $130.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $13.31 billion, a PE ratio of 25.85 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $132.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.64. Lamar Advertising has a 1-year low of $97.54 and a 1-year high of $139.88.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.17 by ($0.73). Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.46% and a return on equity of 42.58%. The business had revenue of $564.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.04 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.52 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.31%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.00%.

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.