Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Downgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on LAMR. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Lamar Advertising from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $92.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, February 26th.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Shares of LAMR opened at $119.49 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54 and a beta of 1.49. The company’s fifty day moving average is $115.64 and its 200-day moving average is $106.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. Lamar Advertising has a 12 month low of $77.21 and a 12 month high of $121.99.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.71). Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 41.86% and a net margin of 23.29%. The business had revenue of $498.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $496.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.35%. This is a boost from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is currently 106.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lamar Advertising news, CFO Jay Lecoryelle Johnson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.97, for a total value of $594,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,189,700. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 14.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAMR. ProVise Management Group LLC increased its stake in Lamar Advertising by 16.9% during the first quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 30,567 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,650,000 after acquiring an additional 4,425 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 4,897 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $585,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 1.0% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 27,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,294,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 22.1% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,923,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Lamar Advertising by 79.1% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 123,138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,703,000 after purchasing an additional 54,390 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

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.