Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $125.00.

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

Lamar Advertising Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $133.74 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.46 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Lamar Advertising has a one year low of $79.94 and a one year high of $137.40. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.10.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $564.96 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 42.18% and a net margin of 23.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.99%.

Institutional Trading of Lamar Advertising

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LAMR. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 322 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Lamar Advertising by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 21,822 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,319,000 after acquiring an additional 853 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising during the 4th quarter worth $111,255,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 57,652 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,127,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising during the 4th quarter valued at $1,280,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

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.