Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $125.00.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Lamar Advertising in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $132.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lamar Advertising from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lamar Advertising

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising in the fourth quarter worth $111,255,000. Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 97.6% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 913,833 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $98,347,000 after purchasing an additional 451,429 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 81.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 937,440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $112,052,000 after purchasing an additional 420,311 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,406,000. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 1,252.8% in the 4th quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 340,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,154,000 after buying an additional 315,034 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Stock Up 1.3 %

LAMR stock opened at $135.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $13.83 billion, a PE ratio of 27.77 and a beta of 1.52. Lamar Advertising has a 12 month low of $77.21 and a 12 month high of $137.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.55.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.67). The company had revenue of $565.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $564.96 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 42.18% and a net margin of 23.34%. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.99%.

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.