Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, 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 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $133.40.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LAMR. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lamar Advertising

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 453.6% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,660,664 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $323,900,000 after purchasing an additional 2,180,011 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Lamar Advertising by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,974,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $263,840,000 after acquiring an additional 617,356 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Lamar Advertising by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,527,270 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $672,890,000 after buying an additional 545,606 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 108.3% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 905,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $110,220,000 after acquiring an additional 470,805 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,255,000. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Lamar Advertising stock traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $122.91. 127,857 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 488,869. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.64 and a beta of 1.51. Lamar Advertising has a twelve month low of $107.22 and a twelve month high of $139.88.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.74. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.46% and a return on equity of 42.58%. The firm had revenue of $579.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $583.19 million. Research analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.49 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.00%.

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.