Contrasting Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) & Kilroy Realty (NYSE:KRC)

Kilroy Realty (NYSE:KRC) and Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Kilroy Realty and Lamar Advertising’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kilroy Realty	$1.13 billion	3.44	$212.24 million	$1.80	18.41
Lamar Advertising	$2.11 billion	5.53	$495.76 million	$4.85	23.58

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.2% of Kilroy Realty shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.8% of Lamar Advertising shares are held by institutional investors. 2.5% of Kilroy Realty shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.0% of Lamar Advertising shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kilroy Realty	18.79%	3.75%	1.90%
Lamar Advertising	23.49%	41.88%	7.60%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Kilroy Realty and Lamar Advertising, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kilroy Realty	0	6	5	0	2.45
Lamar Advertising	0	2	0	0	2.00

Kilroy Realty currently has a consensus target price of $39.00, suggesting a potential upside of 17.68%. Lamar Advertising has a consensus target price of $109.50, suggesting a potential downside of 4.26%. Given Kilroy Realty’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Kilroy Realty is more favorable than Lamar Advertising.

Risk and Volatility

Kilroy Realty has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lamar Advertising has a beta of 1.5, meaning that its stock price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Kilroy Realty pays an annual dividend of $2.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.5%. Lamar Advertising pays an annual dividend of $5.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Kilroy Realty pays out 120.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Lamar Advertising pays out 107.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Lamar Advertising has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Summary

Lamar Advertising beats Kilroy Realty on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kilroy Realty

Kilroy Realty Corporation (NYSE: KRC, the company, Kilroy) is a leading U.S. landlord and developer, with operations in San Diego, Greater Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Seattle and Austin. The company has earned global recognition for sustainability, building operations, innovation and design. As a pioneer and innovator in the creation of a more sustainable real estate industry, the company's approach to modern business environments helps drive creativity and productivity for some of the world's leading technology, entertainment, life science and business services companies. The company is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) and member of the S&P MidCap 400 Index with more than seven decades of experience developing, acquiring and managing office, life science and mixed-use projects. As of December 31, 2023, Kilroy's stabilized portfolio totaled approximately 17.0 million square feet of primarily office and life science space that was 85.0% occupied and 86.4% leased. The company also had approximately 1,000 residential units in Hollywood and San Diego, which had a quarterly average occupancy of 92.5%. In addition, the company had two in-process life science redevelopment projects totaling approximately 100,000 square feet with total estimated redevelopment costs of $80.0 million and one approximately 875,000 square foot in-process development project with a total estimated investment of $1.0 billion.

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.