StockNews.com Downgrades Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on LAMR. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.40.

Lamar Advertising Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Lamar Advertising stock opened at $128.25 on Monday. 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 $94.71 and a 52 week high of $139.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $131.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $123.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.12 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65 and a beta of 1.52.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.17 by ($0.73). The company had revenue of $564.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.00%.

Institutional Trading of Lamar Advertising

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,708,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,517,554,000 after buying an additional 68,484 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 6.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,332,586 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $159,283,000 after buying an additional 75,955 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 3.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,093,096 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $146,038,000 after buying an additional 39,845 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 81.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 937,440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $112,052,000 after buying an additional 420,311 shares during the period. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 281,582 shares during the period. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.