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Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ:LAMR) is an outdoor advertising company organized as a real estate investment trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Lamar’s core revenue-generating activity is leasing space for advertising on billboards, buses, shelters, benches, logo plates, and airport terminals through short-term agreements.

The company will report its Q3 2024 earnings on October 31. Wall Street analysts expect the company to post an EPS of $1.45, up from $1.37 in the year-ago period. According to data from Benzinga Pro, quarterly revenue is expected to be $601.78 million, up from $542.61 million in the year-ago period.

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If You Bought Lamar Advertising Stock 20 Years Ago

The company's stock traded around $41.61 per share 20 years ago. If you had invested $1,000, you could have bought approximately 24 shares of Lamar Advertising stock. Currently, shares are trading at $123.04, meaning your investment's value could have soared to $2,957 due to stock price appreciation. But wait, the company also paid dividends during these 20 years.

Lamar Advertising’s dividend yield is currently 4.55%. Over the last twenty years, it paid around $39.58 in dividends per share, which means you could have made $951 from dividends alone.

Summing up $2,957 and $951, the final value of your investment would be $3,908. This is how much you could have made if you had invested $1,000 in Lamar Advertising stock 20 years ago. This means a total return of 290.8%. However, this figure is significantly lower than the S&P 500 total return for the same period, 541.72%.

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What Could The Next 20 Years Bring?

Based on the ratings of four analysts, Lamar Advertising has a consensus rating of Neutral and a price target of $123.25. The price target implies almost no upside from the current stock price.

On Aug. 8, Lamar Advertising reported its Q2 2024 earnings, posting an AFFO of $2.08, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05, and revenues of $565.3 million, compared to the consensus of $564.364 million, as reported by Benzinga.

“We delivered solid revenue growth in the second quarter, buoyed by continued strong demand from local and regional advertisers," Lamar chief executive Sean Reilly said. “The revenue gain, combined with continued discipline on expenses, allowed us to produce adjusted EBITDA growth of nearly 7% and diluted AFFO per share growth of 9.5%. Also, we continue to pace at the top end of our previously provided guidance of $7.75 to $7.90 for full-year diluted AFFO per share."

In summary, growth-focused investors may not find Lamar Advertising stock attractive, given the company’s modest historical stock price appreciation and no expected upside potential. Conversely, the stock can be a good choice for income-focused investors, who benefit from its high dividend yield of 4.55%.

Check out this article by Benzinga, highlighting three more companies with solid dividend yields and a long history of dividend hikes.

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This article If You Invested $1,000 In Lamar Advertising Stock 20 Years Ago, How Much Would You Have Now? originally appeared on Benzinga.com