One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$99.13 our estimate vs market $159.03
Wall Street consensus: $160.25 (61.7% higher than our fair-value estimate)
60% above our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
Lamar Advertising Company
LAMR · NMS · Real Estate · REIT - Specialty
Current price
$159.03
52-week range
$114.45 - $166.33
Market cap
$16.15B
Balance sheet
Distressed
4.35x Stretched
Net debt $4.91B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
2 Risks
3 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 3.7% last year.
- Reward Returns 59.4% on equity, ahead of 66% of its peers.
- Risk Stock trades 15.7% above its 5-year average P/E.
- Risk Net debt grew 7.4% over 3 years.
What this company does
Lamar Advertising Company
Lamar Advertising Company sells billboard space and other outdoor advertising formats, like ads on buses or in airports, to businesses that want to reach a lot of people. Their money mainly comes from companies paying to put their ads on Lamar's signs. This matters because it means Lamar's business performance is tied to how much businesses are willing to spend on advertising to get noticed.
How the company got here
Lamar Advertising Company has a long history, starting way back in 1902. It began by selling advertising space on streetcar transfers in Atlanta. Over more than a century, the company grew by acquiring other advertising businesses and expanding its reach. A key turning point was its strategic shift towards acquiring and developing billboard and digital display networks across the United States and Canada, establishing itself as a major player in the outdoor advertising industry.
What it actually does
Lamar Advertising Company sells advertising space on physical and digital billboards, as well as on public transit and in airports. Think of all the billboards you see when you're driving on the highway or the ads inside a bus or at the airport – Lamar likely owns and operates many of them. They help businesses, from your local pizza place to big national brands, get their message in front of people who are out and about.
Billboards
This is Lamar's largest business, where they rent out space on traditional roadside billboards. Advertisers pay to have their messages displayed to drivers and passengers passing by. These billboards are crucial for reaching a wide audience, especially for businesses looking to build brand awareness or promote local events and services. This segment forms the backbone of Lamar's revenue, providing a consistent income stream from long-term advertising contracts.
Digital Advertising Displays
Lamar is a leader in digital billboards, which are essentially large outdoor screens that can change their advertisements. This allows for more dynamic and frequent ad changes compared to traditional billboards, giving advertisers flexibility. It also enables Lamar to sell ad space more efficiently, sometimes selling different ad slots throughout the day to multiple clients. This segment is a significant and growing part of Lamar's business, reflecting the trend towards digital media.
Transit and Airport Advertising
Beyond billboards, Lamar also sells advertising space on buses, trains, and within airport terminals. This targets people who are commuting or traveling, offering advertisers a captive audience in specific locations. Ads can range from posters inside buses to large displays in airport concourses, reaching a diverse group of consumers during their daily routines or travel.
What management is betting on now
Lamar's management is focused on expanding its network of digital billboards, as these offer higher revenue potential and more flexibility for advertisers. They are also investing in acquiring new advertising locations in attractive markets to grow their overall footprint. The company aims to leverage its scale and technology to provide effective advertising solutions for a wide range of clients, from small local businesses to large national corporations.
Price history
How the share price has moved
—
Loading price history…
Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$197.25M
FY2024 Q4
$236.30M
FY2025 Q1
$97.86M
FY2025 Q2
$191.29M
FY2025 Q3
$185.81M
FY2025 Q4
$208.30M
FY2026 Q1
$114.25M
FY2026 Q2
$209.70M
Revenue
—
Net income
$160.75M
Diluted EPS
1.58
Operating cash flow
$252.42M
Free cash flow
$209.70M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$101.29M
Diluted EPS
1.00
Operating cash flow
$147.39M
Free cash flow
$114.25M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$152.29M
Diluted EPS
1.50
Operating cash flow
$271.16M
Free cash flow
$208.30M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$141.75M
Diluted EPS
1.40
Operating cash flow
$235.66M
Free cash flow
$185.81M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$154.35M
Diluted EPS
1.52
Operating cash flow
$229.49M
Free cash flow
$191.29M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$138.75M
Diluted EPS
1.35
Operating cash flow
$127.75M
Free cash flow
$97.86M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$-1.20M
Diluted EPS
-0.02
Operating cash flow
$279.31M
Free cash flow
$236.30M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
—
Net income
$147.48M
Diluted EPS
1.44
Operating cash flow
$227.39M
Free cash flow
$197.25M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $99.13 vs current price $159.03
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $160.25 (61.7% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $99.13 a share — about 37.7% below today's price of $159.03, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Distressed
Net debt $4.9B. Interest coverage 4.4x.
Net debt
$4.91B
Interest coverage
4.35x
Lamar Advertising Company's profit covers its interest bill about 4.4 times over. which is stronger than every peer shown here and 1 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Distressed
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
LAMR
BASELINE
Lamar Advertising Company
Total debt $4.98B Interest coverage 4.35x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $4.13B Interest coverage 2.13x -51% vs LAMR Carries about 2.0x less debt cushion than LAMR.
Total debt $6.47B Interest coverage 0.79x -82% vs LAMR Carries about 5.5x less debt cushion than LAMR.
Total debt $45.29B Interest coverage 3.63x -17% vs LAMR Carries about 1.2x less debt cushion than LAMR.
Total debt $22.92B Interest coverage 2.22x -49% vs LAMR Carries about 2.0x less debt cushion than LAMR.
Total debt $15.21B Interest coverage 3.26x -25% vs LAMR Carries about 1.3x less debt cushion than LAMR.
What you should know
The case for and against LAMR
3 Rewards
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 3.7% last year.
-
Returns 59.4% on equity, ahead of 66% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
Risks
-
Stock trades 15.7% above its 5-year average P/E.
-
Net debt grew 7.4% over 3 years.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
29.02x
Forward P/E
24.54x
P/B
16.44x
P/S
6.94x
EV/EBITDA
19.91x
PEG ratio
2.20x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
67.4%
Operating margin
33.3%
Net margin
23.9%
ROE
59.4%
ROA
6.6%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
5.00x
Current ratio
0.63x
Quick ratio
0.57x
Total debt
$4.98B
Total cash
$67.95M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$1.60B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
5.5%
EPS TTM
5.48
EPS 5Y CAGR
10.2%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$906.62M
Free CF TTM
$683.25M
FCF margin
42.8%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
4.2%
Payout ratio
115.0%
Last ex-div date
2026-09-21