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

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating 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 research analysts have commented on LAMR shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $122.16 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.67. The stock has a market cap of $12.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.61 and a beta of 1.51. Lamar Advertising has a 1-year low of $108.23 and a 1-year high of $139.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $579.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $583.19 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 30.20%. Research analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. 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 5.08%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is currently 175.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lamar Advertising

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $672,890,000 after acquiring an additional 545,606 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 2.9% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,248,660 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $567,632,000 after purchasing an additional 119,068 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 453.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,640,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $352,752,000 after buying an additional 21,852 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,423,981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $295,122,000 after purchasing an additional 152,575 shares in the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is currently 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.