Short Interest in Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Grows By 21.7%

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,080,000 shares, a growth of 21.7% from the February 13th total of 2,530,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.0 days. Approximately 3.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Lamar Advertising Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ LAMR traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $114.67. The stock had a trading volume of 83,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 557,285. The firm has a market cap of $11.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.48 and a beta of 1.53. Lamar Advertising has a fifty-two week low of $108.80 and a fifty-two week high of $139.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $123.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.60.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.74. Lamar Advertising had a return on equity of 30.20% and a net margin of 16.40%. The firm had revenue of $579.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $583.19 million. Research analysts anticipate that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.41%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 175.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 453.6% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,660,664 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $323,900,000 after buying an additional 2,180,011 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,974,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $263,840,000 after acquiring an additional 617,356 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Lamar Advertising by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,527,270 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $672,890,000 after acquiring an additional 545,606 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Lamar Advertising by 108.3% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 905,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $110,220,000 after purchasing an additional 470,805 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lamar Advertising in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,255,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on LAMR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.60.

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.