Analysts Set Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) PT at $123.25

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $125.00.

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

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

LAMR opened at $133.54 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. The company has a market cap of $13.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.44. Lamar Advertising has a 12-month low of $77.21 and a 12-month high of $134.09.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted 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 return on equity of 42.18% and a net margin of 23.34%. The business had revenue of $565.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $564.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.99%.

Institutional Trading of Lamar Advertising

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 4,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $503,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 601.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising in the fourth quarter worth $38,406,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 57,652 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.