Lamar Advertising (LAMR) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.40 on December 30th

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 6th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a dividend of 1.40 per share by the real estate investment trust on Monday, December 30th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th.

Lamar Advertising has raised its dividend payment by an average of 26.0% per year over the last three years. Lamar Advertising has a dividend payout ratio of 98.4% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Research analysts expect Lamar Advertising to earn $7.86 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 71.2%.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of Lamar Advertising stock opened at $129.00 on Monday. Lamar Advertising has a twelve month low of $100.15 and a twelve month high of $139.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.80 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by ($0.73). The company had revenue of $564.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $568.91 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 42.58% and a net margin of 23.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.04 EPS. Analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.52 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lamar Advertising has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.40.

Lamar Advertising Company Profile

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.