Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on LAMR. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.40.

Lamar Advertising Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of LAMR stock opened at $130.04 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.01 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $131.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.96. Lamar Advertising has a one year low of $91.20 and a one year high of $139.88.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.17 by ($0.73). The business had revenue of $564.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.91 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.34% and a return on equity of 42.18%. Lamar Advertising’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.04 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This is a boost from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.00%.

Institutional Trading of Lamar Advertising

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Lamar Advertising by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,708,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,517,554,000 after acquiring an additional 68,484 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,332,586 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $159,283,000 after purchasing an additional 75,955 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 81.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 937,440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $112,052,000 after buying an additional 420,311 shares during the period. Centersquare Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Lamar Advertising by 82.8% in the first quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 621,763 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $72,031,000 after buying an additional 281,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 4.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 566,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $67,664,000 after buying an additional 22,382 shares during the period. 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.