Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) and Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) Head-To-Head Contrast

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) and Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Lamar Advertising and Piedmont Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lamar Advertising	19.27%	43.02%	6.51%
Piedmont Realty Trust	-12.44%	-4.51%	-1.75%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.8% of Lamar Advertising shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.5% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 15.0% of Lamar Advertising shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lamar Advertising and Piedmont Realty Trust”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lamar Advertising	$2.21 billion	6.07	$361.87 million	$4.26	31.05
Piedmont Realty Trust	$570.32 million	1.87	-$79.06 million	($0.57)	-15.01

Lamar Advertising has higher revenue and earnings than Piedmont Realty Trust. Piedmont Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lamar Advertising, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Lamar Advertising has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its share price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Piedmont Realty Trust has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Lamar Advertising and Piedmont Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lamar Advertising	0	4	1	0	2.20
Piedmont Realty Trust	1	2	1	0	2.00

Lamar Advertising presently has a consensus price target of $133.00, suggesting a potential upside of 0.56%. Piedmont Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $9.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.20%. Given Piedmont Realty Trust’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Piedmont Realty Trust is more favorable than Lamar Advertising.

Summary

Lamar Advertising beats Piedmont Realty Trust on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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

About Piedmont Realty Trust

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (also referred to herein as "Piedmont" or the "Company") (NYSE: PDM) is an owner, manager, developer, redeveloper and operator of high-quality, Class A office properties located primarily in major U.S. Sunbelt markets. The Company is a fully-integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") with local management offices in each of its markets and is investment-grade rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's. The Company was designated an Energy Star Partner of the Year for 2021, 2022 and 2023, and it was the only office REIT headquartered in the Southeast to receive those designations. Approximately 85% of the Company's square footage is Energy Star certified and nearly 70% is LEED certified. Piedmont is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.