LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / March 15, 2018 / Active-Investors has a free review on Lamar Advertising Co. (NASDAQ: LAMR) (?Lamar?) following the Company's announcement that it will begin trading ex-dividend on March 16, 2018. In order to capture the dividend payout, investors must purchase the stock a day prior to the ex-dividend date that is by latest at the end of the trading session on March 15, 2018. Active-Investors has initiated due-diligence on this dividend stock. Register with us for more free research including the one on LAMR:

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Dividend Declared

On February 22, 2018, Lamar announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.91 per share payable on March 29, 2018, to stockholders of record of Lamar's Class A common stock and Class B common stock on March 19, 2018. The Company's recent dividend is 10% higher compared to the dividend of $0.83 per share paid in the previous quarter.

Lamar's indicated dividend represents a yield of 5.39%, which is more than double compared to the average dividend yield of 1.97% for the Services sector. The Company has raised dividend for two years in a row.

Dividend Insights

Lamar has a dividend payout ratio of 70.8%, which indicates that the Company distributes approximately $0.71 for every $1.00 earned. The dividend payout ratio reflects how much amount a company is returning to shareholders versus how much money it is keeping on hand to reinvest in growth, to pay off debt, and/or to add to its cash reserves.

According to analysts' estimates, Lamar is forecasted to report earnings of $3.45 per share for the next year compared to the Company's annualized dividend of $3.64 per share. One of the primary reasons for the difference between earnings and annualized dividend is that Lamar is a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) which is structured by law to distribute at least 90% of earnings. Moreover, since REITs generate income from owning portfolios of investment real estate, they are likely to have higher depreciation charges.

Since depreciation is a non-cash charge, it does not directly impact the ability of dividend the companies can distribute. For this reason, Fund from Operations (FFO) is calculated by adding depreciation and amortization to earnings and subtracting any gains on sales which then provides a better picture of any company's profitability and capacity to pay and to sustain dividends. For instance, for the quarter ended December 31, 2017, Lamar recognized net income of $87.2 million, or $0.88 per diluted share, compared to net income of $80.5 million, or $0.81 per diluted share, for Q4 2016.

On the other hand, for the three months ended December 31, 2017, Lamar's adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) was $135.8 million, or $1.38 per diluted share, compared to $128.9 million, or $1.32 per diluted share, for Q4 2016. The Company's FFO number indicates that the Company should be able to comfortably cover its dividend payout.

Lamar's cash flow provided by operating activities was $186.4 million for Q4 2017, reflecting an increase of $2.4 million on a y-o-y basis. The Company's free cash flow was $112.3 million for Q4 2017, up 1.2% compared to $111.1 million for Q4 2016.

About Lamar Advertising Co.

Founded in 1902, Lamar is one of the largest outdoor advertising companies in North America with more than 348,000 displays across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Lamar offers advertisers a variety of billboard, interstate logo, and transit advertising formats, helping both local businesses and national brands reach broad audiences every day. Lamar also offers its customers the largest network of digital billboards in the US with over 2,800 displays.

Stock Performance Snapshot

March 14, 2018 - At Wednesday's closing bell, Lamar's stock was slightly down 0.55%, ending the trading session at $66.50.

Volume traded for the day: 451.33 thousand shares.

Stock performance in the previous six-month period ? up 5.32%

After yesterday's close, Lamar's market cap was at $6.48 billion.

Price to Earnings (P/E) ratio was at 20.88.

The stock has a dividend yield of 5.47%.

The stock is part of the Financial sector, categorized under the REIT - Diversified industry.

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