Christian Leone is Bullish on Lamar Advertising Co (LAMR) and Raises Stake to 5%

Christian Leone and Luxor Capital Group have boosted their stake in Lamar Advertising Co (NASDAQ:LAMR), a new filing with the SEC shows. Luxor revealed a holding which contains over 4.07 million shares of Lamar, versus 2.43 million shares reported earlier. Following the increase, Luxor holds slightly above 5% of the company’s class A common stock, up from 3% disclosed earlier.

Lamar Advertising Co (NASDAQ:LAMR) is a U.S. based company engaged primarily in outdoor advertising. With a market cap of over $5.0 billion, Lamar is one of the largest advertising agencies in the U.S. Moreover, its trailing P/E of 125.xx, is one of the highest in the industry of advertising agencies and is well above the industry average of around 25. In addition, the stock trades at a forward P/E of approximately 36, and its average recommendation is ‘Overweight,’ all of which could support Mr. Leone’s latest bet.

The company also reported solid financial results for the past year. Its revenues edged up by almost 6% on the year to $1.25 billion and the net income surged to $40.1 million, from $7.9 million in 2012. At the beginning of the year, Lamar Advertising Co (NASDAQ:LAMR)’s wholly owned subsidiary Lamar Media Corp issued a private placement of $510 million worth of 5 3/8% senior Notes due 2024, for net proceeds valued at around $502.3 million. According to a press release, Lamar Media will use the proceeds to repay its outstanding senior credit facility and corporate purposes.

According to its latest 13F filing, Luxor Capital Group has raised its exposure to Lamar Advertising Co (NASDAQ:LAMR) by around 32% during the last quarter of 2013. Alec Litowitz and Ross Lase‘s Magnetar Capital has also been bullish on the company and surged its stake by 140% to 1.98 million shares as at the end of 2013. However, another significant shareholder, Perry Capital, managed by Richard Perry, lowered its position by over 30% and reported owning 4.3 million shares of Lamar Advertising in its latest 13F.

Yesterday, Luxor Capital Group also revealed raising its stake in BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) to 11.3% of the stock, the position now containing 3.20 million shares. Earlier this month, the fund added CONN’S, Inc. (NASDAQ:CONN) to its equity portfolio, disclosing ownership of 2.0 million shares, equal to 5.6% of the outstanding stock.

Disclosure: none

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