Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Increases Dividend to $1.55 Per Share

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 1.55 per share by the real estate investment trust on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.70%. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40.

Lamar Advertising has increased its dividend by an average of 15.6% per year over the last three years. Lamar Advertising has a dividend payout ratio of 89.9% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Equities analysts expect Lamar Advertising to earn $7.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 70.7%.

Lamar Advertising Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of LAMR opened at $132.00 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $124.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.35. Lamar Advertising has a 12-month low of $106.43 and a 12-month high of $139.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48. The firm has a market cap of $13.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.40 and a beta of 1.51.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.74. Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.46% and a return on equity of 42.58%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lamar Advertising will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAMR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com lowered Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Lamar Advertising from $132.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.40.

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.