Reviewing Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) and Bimini Capital Management (OTCMKTS:BMNM)

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) and Bimini Capital Management (OTCMKTS:BMNM) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.8% of Lamar Advertising shares are held by institutional investors. 15.0% of Lamar Advertising shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 42.7% of Bimini Capital Management shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Lamar Advertising and Bimini Capital Management’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lamar Advertising	23.29%	41.86%	7.61%
Bimini Capital Management	-39.58%	-44.56%	-4.04%

Risk and Volatility

Lamar Advertising has a beta of 1.5, suggesting that its share price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bimini Capital Management has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Lamar Advertising and Bimini Capital Management, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lamar Advertising	0	2	0	0	2.00
Bimini Capital Management	0	0	0	0	N/A

Lamar Advertising currently has a consensus price target of $109.50, suggesting a potential downside of 4.24%. Given Lamar Advertising’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Lamar Advertising is more favorable than Bimini Capital Management.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lamar Advertising and Bimini Capital Management’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lamar Advertising	$2.11 billion	5.54	$495.76 million	$4.87	23.48
Bimini Capital Management	$13.60 million	0.56	-$3.98 million	($0.47)	-1.60

Lamar Advertising has higher revenue and earnings than Bimini Capital Management. Bimini Capital Management is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lamar Advertising, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Lamar Advertising beats Bimini Capital Management on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. Lamar Advertising Company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

About Bimini Capital Management

Bimini Capital Management, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Asset Management and Investment Portfolio. The Asset Management segment includes investment advisory services by Bimini Advisors to Orchid Island Capital, Inc. and Royal Palm Capital, LLC. The Investment Portfolio segment engages in investment activities conducted by Royal Palm Capital, LLC. It invests in residential mortgage-backed securities. The company was formerly known as Opteum Inc. and changed its name to Bimini Capital Management, Inc. in September 2007. Bimini Capital Management, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is based in Vero Beach, Florida.