Schnieders Capital Management LLC Invests $377,000 in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Schnieders Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,545 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $377,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Private Management Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 177,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,882,000 after buying an additional 31,102 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,217,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 16,681 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,773,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 236.7% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,256 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 103.7% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jay Lecoryelle Johnson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,189,700. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 14.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

NASDAQ LAMR traded down $0.58 on Wednesday, hitting $114.06. The stock had a trading volume of 222,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 405,456. Lamar Advertising has a one year low of $77.21 and a one year high of $121.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55. The stock has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58 and a beta of 1.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $113.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.13.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $555.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $549.84 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.49% and a return on equity of 41.88%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Lamar Advertising will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.56%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 107.22%.

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.