California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 2,701 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its position in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 173,891 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,701 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.17% of Lamar Advertising worth $18,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising during the third quarter worth $30,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Lamar Advertising by 43.7% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 493 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Lamar Advertising by 249.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 705 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 236.7% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,256 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. increased their price target on Lamar Advertising from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lamar Advertising from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th.

Lamar Advertising Stock Up 0.9 %

Lamar Advertising stock opened at $115.39 on Tuesday. Lamar Advertising has a fifty-two week low of $77.21 and a fifty-two week high of $121.99. 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 $11.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.79 and a beta of 1.50. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.06.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $555.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $549.84 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 41.88%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 107.22%.

Insider Activity

In other Lamar Advertising news, CFO Jay Lecoryelle Johnson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,189,700. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 14.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.