Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,080,000 shares, a decrease of 5.0% from the September 30th total of 2,190,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 398,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on LAMR. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Lamar Advertising in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $132.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Lamar Advertising from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup lowered Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lamar Advertising

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 81.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 937,440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $112,052,000 after purchasing an additional 420,311 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 49,140.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 285,102 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,090,000 after purchasing an additional 284,523 shares during the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 82.8% in the first quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 621,763 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $72,031,000 after purchasing an additional 281,582 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in Lamar Advertising by 42,096.3% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 126,167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,856,000 after purchasing an additional 125,868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Lamar Advertising during the 3rd quarter worth about $12,240,000. Institutional investors own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LAMR opened at $131.25 on Friday. Lamar Advertising has a twelve month low of $85.82 and a twelve month high of $139.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.43 billion, a PE ratio of 26.62 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. This is a boost from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio is presently 113.59%.

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.