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

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $134.60.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Lamar Advertising Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ LAMR opened at $113.57 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $123.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $127.68. Lamar Advertising has a fifty-two week low of $108.80 and a fifty-two week high of $139.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $11.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17 and a beta of 1.53.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $579.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $583.19 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 30.20% and a net margin of 16.40%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share 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 paid a $1.55 dividend. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.46%. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is 175.64%.

Institutional Trading of Lamar Advertising

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAMR. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Lamar Advertising in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 109.3% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 106.7% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 277 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 58.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. 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.