Jay Lecoryelle Johnson Sells 22,000 Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Stock

Key Points

• Lamar Advertising's CFO, Jay Lecoryelle Johnson, sold 22,000 shares at an average price of $124.28, totaling approximately $2.73 million.
• The company reported a Q2 EPS of $2.22, exceeding analysts' expectations by $0.74, though revenue fell short of estimates at $579.31 million.
• Analyst consensus for Lamar Advertising's stock is a Hold rating, with a target price averaging $134.20, following various rating adjustments by significant brokerages.

Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR - Get Free Report) CFO Jay Lecoryelle Johnson sold 22,000 shares of Lamar Advertising stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.28, for a total transaction of $2,734,160.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

LAMR traded up $1.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $127.25. The stock had a trading volume of 497,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 807,395. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $123.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.09. Lamar Advertising Company has a 12 month low of $99.84 and a 12 month high of $139.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45. The firm has a market cap of $12.88 billion, a PE ratio of 29.59 and a beta of 1.36.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $579.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $580.72 million. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 41.85%. Lamar Advertising has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.090-6.11 EPS. Analysts expect that Lamar Advertising Company will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. Lamar Advertising's dividend payout ratio is currently 144.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lamar Advertising

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAMR. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in Lamar Advertising in the second quarter valued at approximately $141,931,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Lamar Advertising in the second quarter valued at approximately $116,240,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 123.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,475,525 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $177,152,000 after acquiring an additional 816,217 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 27.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,344,637 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $284,577,000 after acquiring an additional 510,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,278,397 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $155,632,000 after acquiring an additional 428,744 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on LAMR shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup raised shares of Lamar Advertising from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $114.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $122.00 to $119.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $134.20.

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.