Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $132.60.

Several research firms have commented on LAMR. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lamar Advertising

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LAMR. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lamar Advertising during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Lamar Advertising by 26,900.0% during the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 270 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in Lamar Advertising by 346.0% during the 1st quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 281 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Lamar Advertising by 106.7% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 277 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $114.81 on Wednesday. Lamar Advertising has a 52 week low of $99.84 and a 52 week high of $139.88. The firm has a market cap of $11.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.52 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $112.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 30.20%. The business had revenue of $505.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $509.72 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.55 dividend. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 150.49%.

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.