Brokerages Set Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Price Target at $133.40

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $134.60.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $122.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.67. The firm has a market cap of $12.50 billion, a PE ratio of 34.61 and a beta of 1.51. Lamar Advertising has a one year low of $108.23 and a one year high of $139.88.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $579.57 million during 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, equities analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is 175.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lamar Advertising

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 545,606 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 119,068 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in Lamar Advertising by 453.6% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,660,664 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $323,900,000 after buying an additional 2,180,011 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 0.8% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 6.7% in 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. 93.78% of the stock is 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.