Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Short Interest Up 24.0% in October

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) was the target of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,580,000 shares, an increase of 24.0% from the October 15th total of 2,080,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 384,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.7 days.

Institutional Trading of Lamar Advertising

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 25.6% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,628 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Lamar Advertising by 31.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 16,085 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after acquiring an additional 3,829 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Lamar Advertising by 79.1% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 123,138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,703,000 after purchasing an additional 54,390 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lamar Advertising by 22.1% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,107 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,923,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 4.0% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 4,897 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. 93.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LAMR. StockNews.com cut Lamar Advertising from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective 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. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Lamar Advertising from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Lamar Advertising from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.40.

Lamar Advertising Stock Performance

Lamar Advertising stock traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $126.35. 630,633 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 420,258. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.93 billion, a PE ratio of 25.27 and a beta of 1.52. The business’s 50-day moving average is $132.11 and its 200-day moving average is $123.38. Lamar Advertising has a 12-month low of $95.83 and a 12-month high of $139.88.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by ($0.73). Lamar Advertising had a net margin of 23.46% and a return on equity of 42.58%. The firm had revenue of $564.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamar Advertising Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is a positive change from Lamar Advertising’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. Lamar Advertising’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.00%.

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.