Short Interest in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Grows By 21.7%

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,080,000 shares, an increase of 21.7% from the February 13th total of 2,530,000 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LAMR shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.60.

Institutional Trading of Lamar Advertising

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 11.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 2.9% in 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 buying an additional 119,068 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $323,900,000 after buying an additional 2,180,011 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Lamar Advertising by 0.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,423,981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $295,122,000 after acquiring an additional 152,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

LAMR traded up $0.90 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $114.47. 890,658 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 429,786. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.43 and a beta of 1.53. Lamar Advertising has a one year low of $108.80 and a one year high of $139.88.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.42%. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is 175.64%.

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.