Analysts Set Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Target Price at $132.60

Shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $132.60.

A number of analysts have commented on LAMR shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Institutional Trading of Lamar Advertising

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAMR. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $323,900,000 after purchasing an additional 2,180,011 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $672,890,000 after buying an additional 545,606 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 108.3% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 905,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $110,220,000 after acquiring an additional 470,805 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising during the fourth quarter valued at $57,255,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Lamar Advertising by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,278,397 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $155,632,000 after purchasing an additional 428,744 shares during the period. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lamar Advertising Stock Up 0.2%

LAMR stock opened at $118.89 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a PE ratio of 33.68 and a beta of 1.38. Lamar Advertising has a 12 month low of $99.84 and a 12 month high of $139.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.99.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $505.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $509.72 million. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 30.20% and a net margin of 16.40%. Equities research analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.55 per share. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.21%. Lamar Advertising’s payout ratio is currently 150.49%.

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.