Lamar Advertising (LAMR) and Its Peers Critical Comparison

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) is one of 35 public companies in the “Specialized REITs” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Lamar Advertising to related businesses based on the strength of its valuation, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

Lamar Advertising has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lamar Advertising’s rivals have a beta of 0.92, indicating that their average share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Lamar Advertising and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lamar Advertising	23.90%	54.94%	8.04%
Lamar Advertising Competitors	-5.42%	-3.46%	2.00%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.8% of Lamar Advertising shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.0% of shares of all “Specialized REITs” companies are owned by institutional investors. 15.2% of Lamar Advertising shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.5% of shares of all “Specialized REITs” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Lamar Advertising pays an annual dividend of $6.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Lamar Advertising pays out 120.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Specialized REITs” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.4% and pay out 120.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Lamar Advertising has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lamar Advertising and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lamar Advertising	$2.27 billion	$587.15 million	28.47
Lamar Advertising Competitors	$2.58 billion	$596.00 million	31.60

Lamar Advertising’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Lamar Advertising. Lamar Advertising is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Lamar Advertising and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lamar Advertising	0	3	2	0	2.40
Lamar Advertising Competitors	518	2784	3666	191	2.49

Lamar Advertising currently has a consensus price target of $161.33, suggesting a potential upside of 3.43%. As a group, “Specialized REITs” companies have a potential upside of 15.89%. Given Lamar Advertising’s rivals stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Lamar Advertising has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Summary

Lamar Advertising rivals beat Lamar Advertising on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

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. Lamar Advertising Company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.