Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Lamar Advertising has a consensus analyst rating of “Hold”, with six firms covering the stock: four hold ratings and two buy ratings. The average 12-month price target is about $154.67.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.00 versus estimates of $0.82 and revenue of $528.0 million versus expectations of $522.86 million. Analysts now expect full-year EPS of 8.41.
• Lamar also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 4.0%. However, the payout ratio is high at 118.08%, which may be a point of concern.

Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $154.6667.

A number of brokerages recently commented on LAMR. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Lamar Advertising from $136.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup cut shares of Lamar Advertising from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $153.00 target price on shares of Lamar Advertising in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Lamar Advertising in a research report on Friday, May 22nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lamar Advertising

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising during the 4th quarter worth $1,872,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Lamar Advertising by 323.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 75,297 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $9,531,000 after acquiring an additional 57,520 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. raised its stake in Lamar Advertising by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 185,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $23,417,000 after acquiring an additional 15,000 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Lamar Advertising by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 232,235 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $29,396,000 after acquiring an additional 10,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic bought a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising in the fourth quarter worth about $1,025,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.78% of the company's stock.

Lamar Advertising Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $158.91 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.32 and a beta of 1.19. Lamar Advertising has a 1 year low of $113.66 and a 1 year high of $164.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $154.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.27.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $528.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $522.86 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 55.53% and a net margin of 24.01%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 8.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 16th. Lamar Advertising's payout ratio is currently 118.08%.

About Lamar Advertising

Lamar Advertising Company NASDAQ: LAMR is one of North America's largest outdoor advertising firms, specializing in out-of-home media solutions. Since its founding in 1902, the company has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to offer a broad portfolio of advertising products. Its core business centers on billboard advertising, encompassing traditional static billboards and a rapidly expanding network of digital displays. These assets enable advertisers to reach consumers with high-impact messaging along highways, in urban centers, and at high-traffic intersections.

In addition to highway billboards, Lamar offers a variety of supplemental out-of-home formats, including transit advertising on buses and shelters, and logo signage at travel plazas and gas stations.

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