Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Price Target Raised to $135.00 at Morgan Stanley

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) had its target price boosted by Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

LAMR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Lamar Advertising from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Lamar Advertising in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $132.00 price objective for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.40.

Lamar Advertising Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ LAMR opened at $127.15 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $13.01 billion, a PE ratio of 25.43 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.56. Lamar Advertising has a 52-week low of $95.81 and a 52-week high of $139.88. The business has a fifty day moving average of $131.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.22.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This is a boost from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is presently 112.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lamar Advertising

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAMR. Centersquare Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Lamar Advertising by 82.8% in the first quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 621,763 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $72,031,000 after acquiring an additional 281,582 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in Lamar Advertising by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 399,678 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,774,000 after purchasing an additional 8,857 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group bought a new position in Lamar Advertising during the 2nd quarter worth $722,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 13.1% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 60,442 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,225,000 after acquiring an additional 6,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 179.4% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 18,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,226,000 after acquiring an additional 11,967 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.