Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Short Interest Update

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,080,000 shares, a drop of 5.0% from the September 30th total of 2,190,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 398,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup lowered shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Lamar Advertising in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $132.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lamar Advertising from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.00.

Lamar Advertising Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Lamar Advertising stock opened at $134.03 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.52 and a beta of 1.52. Lamar Advertising has a 52-week low of $80.59 and a 52-week high of $139.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.92.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.67). The business had revenue of $565.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $564.96 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.34% and a return on equity of 42.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued 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 4.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.99%.

Institutional Trading of Lamar Advertising

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 444.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 185 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners bought a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in Lamar Advertising by 144.4% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 220 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Lamar Advertising in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.