Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Increases Dividend to $1.40 Per Share

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, August 27th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be paid a dividend of 1.40 per share by the real estate investment trust on Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. This is an increase from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30.

Lamar Advertising has increased its dividend payment by an average of 26.0% per year over the last three years. Lamar Advertising has a payout ratio of 97.9% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Analysts expect Lamar Advertising to earn $8.53 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 65.7%.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Lamar Advertising stock opened at $131.13 on Tuesday. Lamar Advertising has a 52 week low of $77.21 and a 52 week high of $131.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. The stock has a market cap of $13.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.93 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $120.40 and a 200-day moving average of $118.00.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LAMR. Citigroup lowered Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $122.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Lamar Advertising from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lamar Advertising from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.25.

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.