Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Invests $12.84 Million in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new stake in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 96,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $12,838,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.09% of Lamar Advertising at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 444.1% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. raised its stake in Lamar Advertising by 144.4% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 220 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in Lamar Advertising in the third quarter valued at $26,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Lamar Advertising in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Lamar Advertising by 109.3% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

LAMR opened at $126.35 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $12.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.27 and a beta of 1.52. Lamar Advertising has a fifty-two week low of $95.83 and a fifty-two week high of $139.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $132.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $564.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $568.91 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.46% and a return on equity of 42.58%. Lamar Advertising’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.04 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.43%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio 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.