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

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

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lamar Advertising

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Lamar Advertising in the 4th quarter worth $111,255,000. Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Lamar Advertising by 82.8% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 8,857 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $722,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,280,000. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $133.74 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $125.53 and its 200 day moving average is $120.10. The firm has a market cap of $13.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.46 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.41. Lamar Advertising has a 52-week low of $79.94 and a 52-week high of $137.40.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.67). Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.34% and a return on equity of 42.18%. The firm had revenue of $565.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $564.96 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. Lamar Advertising’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $1.40 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.99%.

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.