Forte Capital LLC ADV Lowers Stock Holdings in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Forte Capital LLC ADV lowered its stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,082 shares during the quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Lamar Advertising were worth $2,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LAMR. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in Lamar Advertising by 27.6% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 301,307 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,150,000 after purchasing an additional 24,649 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 4.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 55,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,606,000 after buying an additional 2,240 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in Lamar Advertising by 3.6% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,561 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, JB Capital LLC increased its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 12.2% during the third quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 26,227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after buying an additional 2,852 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of LAMR traded down $3.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $115.08. 641,317 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 378,166. The company has a market cap of $11.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.63 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $114.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.83. Lamar Advertising has a 52-week low of $77.21 and a 52-week high of $121.99.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.71). The business had revenue of $498.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $496.98 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.29% and a return on equity of 41.80%. Lamar Advertising’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is presently 106.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lamar Advertising

In other news, CFO Jay Lecoryelle Johnson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total value of $594,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,189,700. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 14.98% of the company’s stock.

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.