Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Stock Price

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) had its price target cut by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 7.82% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on LAMR. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Lamar Advertising from $121.76 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Lamar Advertising from $129.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.60.

Lamar Advertising Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of LAMR stock opened at $115.93 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.01. Lamar Advertising has a 52-week low of $99.84 and a 52-week high of $139.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.87 billion, a PE ratio of 32.84 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56.

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $579.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $583.19 million. On average, analysts predict that Lamar Advertising will post 7.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Lamar Advertising

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lamar Advertising in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lamar Advertising during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 346.0% during the first quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 281 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lamar Advertising by 106.7% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 277 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lamar Advertising by 58.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. 93.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.