Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) in a research note published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating and a $132.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Lamar Advertising from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Citigroup cut shares of Lamar Advertising from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $122.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $125.00.

Lamar Advertising Price Performance

Shares of LAMR stock opened at $133.54 on Thursday. Lamar Advertising has a 1 year low of $77.21 and a 1 year high of $134.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $121.49 and its 200-day moving average is $118.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42 and a beta of 1.52.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.67). The company had revenue of $565.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $564.96 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 42.18% and a net margin of 23.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lamar Advertising

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lamar Advertising in the second quarter valued at about $1,781,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in Lamar Advertising by 178.8% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,207 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $144,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Lamar Advertising by 9.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,999 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Lamar Advertising by 8.2% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 36,218 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,329,000 after acquiring an additional 2,753 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in Lamar Advertising by 13.5% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,880 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

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.