Lamar Advertising Company LAMR announced a $555-MILLION senior notes offering through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Lamar Media Corp. The 3.625% senior notes due in 2031 will be offered through an institutional private placement.

The net proceeds from the offering after the payment of fees and expenses are anticipated to be $542.5 million. Subject to customary closing norms, the offering is expected to close on or around Jan 22, 2021.

Lamar Media plans to use the net proceeds along with cash on hand, and borrowings under its ‎senior secured revolving credit facility and Accounts Receivable Securitization Program for the full redemption of its outstanding $650 million aggregate principal amount of 5¾% senior notes due in 2026.‎

Notably, Lamar’s efforts to strengthen its near-term liquidity in these testing times and tap the debt market amid the current low-interest-rate environment are strategic fits. Further, the notes will be issued at 3.625%, which is lower than the 5¾% interest rate of the notes that will be redeemed. Hence, this will likely result in lower interest expenses.

Moreover, addressing its near-term debt maturities will enhance Lamar’s financial flexibility and extend average debt maturity term of debt.

However, the notes offering increase Lamar’s long-term debt obligation. This is concerning since the company’s total debt to total capital of 72.2% is high. Moreover, the coronavirus-induced slowdown will likely impede revenue growth and affect cash flow from operations.

Also, in August 2020, Moody’s downgraded the company’s long-term rating to B1 from Ba3, with a speculative grade as the rating agency believes outdoor advertising activities remain heavily dependent on consumer spending, which is expected to remain subdued for now.

Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have declined 8.1% over the past year, wider than the industry's fall of 7.7%.

Stocks to Consider

CubeSmart’s CUBE Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 funds from operations (FFO) per share has moved up marginally to $1.78 in the past month. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Extra Space Storage Inc.’s EXR FFO per share estimate for the current year has been revised marginally upward to $5.44 in the past week. The company carries a Zacks Rank of 2, currently.

City Office REIT, Inc.’s CIO Zacks Consensus Estimate for the ongoing-year FFO per share has been unchanged at $1.32 in a month’s time. The company has a Zacks Rank of 2 at present.

Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represent funds from operations (FFO) — a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.

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