Lamar Advertising (LAMR) Stock: Dividend vs AFFO, Debt

The dividend: $1.65 now, with a floor of $6.50 for 2026

Lamar pays quarterly and has changed the rate in steps. The board declared $1.55 for each of the first three quarters of 2025, then a $1.55 regular dividend plus a $0.25 special on December 11, 2025. It moved to $1.60 for the first two quarters of 2026 and to $1.65 on September 1, 2026.

Source: Lamar's dividend announcements furnished on Form 8-K and the 2025 Form 10-K. The $6.50 floor is the company's own wording: “Subject to the approval of its board of directors,” Lamar expects aggregate quarterly distributions in 2026 to total at least $6.50 per share, including the dividend payable September 30. A floor is a statement of expectation, not a contract; the Form 10-Q says the amount and timing of distributions are at the sole discretion of the board.

Two details are easy to miss. First, the $6.45 paid for 2025 includes the $0.25 special, so 2025 to 2026 is not a clean comparison of regular rates. At the current $1.65 rate, four payments would be $6.60 (our arithmetic), which is above the stated floor but is not a commitment. Second, Lamar's 10-Q says dividends are paid to Class A and Class B holders and also to holders of common and LTIP units of Lamar LP, its operating partnership. Those units are in the AFFO share count too, which matters for the per-share arithmetic below.

Dividend vs AFFO: quarterly numbers are seasonal

Lamar's own yardstick for the dividend is AFFO, defined in its release as FFO adjusted for straight-line items, stock-based compensation, non-real-estate depreciation, financing-cost amortization and other items, less maintenance capital expenditures. Outdoor advertising is seasonal, so the first quarter is thin and the fourth is strong. A payout ratio taken from one quarter swings by roughly 30 points.

Source: Lamar's quarterly earnings releases furnished on Form 8-K. The four 2025 quarters add up to the $8.26 Lamar reported for the year, so the table reconciles.

Over a full year the ratio is steadier. Distributions were $5.65 against AFFO per share of $7.99 in 2024, 70.7%, and $6.45 against $8.26 in 2025, 78.1% (our arithmetic). The 2025 number rose because the dividend grew 14.2% (including the special) while AFFO per share grew 3.4% (our arithmetic). For 2026, the guided range implies 73.0% to 74.3% at the $6.50 floor and 74.2% to 75.4% at an annualized $6.60.

That bottom half explains why some data sites show Lamar paying out more than 100%. On GAAP earnings per share, which charge real-estate depreciation, the dividend is above 100%. REITs are normally judged on AFFO or FFO, which add depreciation back, and Lamar says plainly that FFO and AFFO “do not represent cash flows from operating activities in accordance with GAAP.” Neither basis is wrong; they answer different questions. The AFFO basis asks whether recurring cash earnings cover the payout. The GAAP basis is a reminder that the buildings and billboards wear out.

What AFFO adds back: the Q2 2026 bridge

Q2 2026 AFFO of $247.948 million was $11.193 million above FFO of $236.755 million (our arithmetic). The gap is the net of the adjustments below.

Source: AFFO reconciliation in the August 6, 2026 earnings release, accession 0001090425-26-000021. Signed adjustments are converted from thousands. From FFO to AFFO the lines after FFO add to +11.193 (our arithmetic).

Stock-based compensation is the line to watch. It was $14.066 million in Q2 2026 against $7.148 million a year earlier, and 5.7% of Q2 AFFO (our arithmetic). Lamar guides 2026 stock-based compensation to $45 million to $55 million. It is added back to AFFO, but it is paid in shares, and shares issued dilute the per-share figure that the dividend is compared against.

Retained cash, acquisitions and the revolver

If a company pays out about three-quarters of AFFO, the rest funds growth. The first half of 2026 shows what that looked like.

Source: Q2 2026 Form 10-Q cash flow statement and the August 6 release. Growth capex is 68.3% of the total capex line (our arithmetic). The first-half gap of about $59 million between retained AFFO and growth spending was filled by the revolver, which went from nothing at December 31, 2025 to $90.0 million at June 30, 2026. That is a choice, not a problem: Lamar's leverage is moderate (below). It does mean the dividend floor is being met while the portfolio is still being bought with borrowed money. The company repurchased 1,388,091 shares for $150.0 million in 2025 and none in the first half of 2026; $250 million of the program remains and runs through September 30, 2027. It has sold no shares under its $400 million at-the-market program.

The share count also tells a story. In July 2025 Lamar issued 1,187,500 Lamar LP common units to buy Verde Outdoor, which it described as adding more than 1,500 billboard faces across ten states. That is why Q2 2026 AFFO per share used 103,213,969 shares and units while the Q2 2025 comparison used 101,653,373 diluted common shares only (the units did not exist yet). Q2 AFFO grew 10.1% and per-share AFFO 8.1% for that reason (our arithmetic: the denominator is 1.5% larger).

Debt: $3.54 billion, mostly fixed, no large maturity before 2028

At June 30, 2026, debt principal was $3,540.741 million and carrying value after financing costs was $3,514.545 million. Cash was $67.950 million. Against trailing-twelve-month Adjusted EBITDA of $1,099.325 million (FY2025 plus the first half of 2026 less the first half of 2025), principal less cash is 3.16 times (our arithmetic). That is our simple measure; Lamar's covenants use their own definitions, with a secured debt ratio ceiling of 4.5 times and a total debt ratio of 7.0 times to incur unsecured debt.

Source: Note 11 of the Q2 2026 Form 10-Q and the 8-Ks of September 24, 2025, October 1, 2025 and October 6, 2026. The senior credit facility line in the 10-Q is $788.456 million, which is the revolver plus the Term B loan at its carrying amount. The $250.0 million securitization program was classified as a current maturity at June 30; the extension comes from the Eighth Amendment dated October 1, 2026, filed October 6.

The fixed notes are cheap at the older end (3.625% to 4.875%) and expensive at the new end (5.375%). Lamar sold the $400 million 5 3/8% notes on September 25, 2025 and refinanced $600 million of earlier Term B loans into $700 million, using the proceeds to pay off the revolver and part of the securitization program. About $1.04 billion, or 29.3% of debt, floats. Lamar's own sensitivity: a 200 basis point rise would have added about $9.5 million to interest expense for the six months. First-half interest expense was $81.6 million against $79.0 million in 2025.

The maturity ladder is the reason leverage is not the near-term concern. Counting the revolver as drawn, $690 million comes due in 2028 ($600 million of 3 3/4% notes plus $90 million revolver, our arithmetic), and the revolver maturity is subject to conditions. The 3 3/4% notes are the cheapest paper in the stack; refinancing them near the current 5.375% coupon would add roughly $9.8 million a year of interest on $600 million (our arithmetic: 1.625 points on $600 million). That is an illustration, not company guidance.

Who pays the rent: tenants, markets and the 71,500 leased sites

Lamar does not own most of the land its billboards stand on. At December 31, 2025 it owned about 11,200 parcels and leased about 71,500 outdoor sites at an annualized lease expense of about $348.1 million, roughly 17% of billboard net revenues. Of those leases, 73% will expire or be subject to renewal within five years, 17% in six to ten years and 10% later, according to the 10-K. That is the real counterpart of a tenant-expiry schedule for this REIT: the risk is the landlord side, not the advertiser side.

Source: Lamar's 2025 Form 10-K and Q2 2026 Form 10-Q. There is no tenant-concentration problem here: no advertiser is above 2% of billboard revenue and the single largest market is under 3% of revenue. The concentration that exists is in control and in leases. The Reilly family and affiliates hold about 63% of voting power through Class B shares, and a REIT that leases most of its sites must keep renewing them. The 10-K notes that no single landlord is a significant concentration.

What changed in the latest quarter

Q2 2026 net revenues were $616.7 million, up 6.5% (6.1% acquisition-adjusted), Adjusted EBITDA was $303.4 million, up 9.0%, and net income was $164.6 million. Billboard revenue rose 7.8% to $552.3 million (our arithmetic) while transit fell. The chief executive said in the release that “we are raising our guidance for full-year diluted AFFO per share to a range of $8.75 to $8.90.” February's range was $8.50 to $8.70, so the midpoint rose $0.225 (our arithmetic). The dividend increase on September 1 came after that guidance update.

Before the Q3 10-Q: what to look for

Lamar says it will release third-quarter results before the market opens on Thursday, November 5, 2026, with a call at 8:00 a.m. Central. Lamar filed its last three 10-Qs on the same day as its earnings 8-K (November 6, 2025, May 7 and August 6, 2026), so the Q3 10-Q is likely the same day; that is our inference, not a company statement. The last filing at the SEC as of this page is an 8-K dated October 6, 2026.

For reference, Q3 2025 AFFO was $226.472 million, or $2.20 per share, against a $1.55 dividend. The $1.65 now being paid is 75.0% of that $2.20 (our arithmetic). That is a reference point, not a forecast. Check these in the Q3 filing:

• AFFO per share against $2.20 a year earlier, and whether the denominator still includes Lamar LP units.
• Stock-based compensation, which is added back to AFFO and nearly doubled in Q2 2026 from a year earlier.
• Revolver borrowings against $90.0 million at June 30, and any move on the 2028 notes.
• Whether the $8.75 to $8.90 guidance and the $6.50 floor change.
• The Q4 dividend, which in 2025 was declared on December 11.

What a holder can do with this

Read the dividend against the full-year number, not a quarter. Compare $6.50 with the guided $8.75 to $8.90, then watch whether the revolver keeps funding acquisitions while the payout stays near three-quarters of AFFO. Check the stock-based compensation line each quarter. Note the site-lease schedule: 73% of the 71,500 leased-site leases expire or come up for renewal within five years, and the annual lease cost is already about 17% of billboard revenue.

A listed REIT like this one lets you read coverage every quarter at an exchange price. A non-traded REIT shows distributions against a NAV that the sponsor sets. Our non-traded REIT versus publicly traded REIT comparison sets out the differences in liquidity and fees, and the non-traded REIT listing discount shows what happens to a NAV when such a vehicle lists. For another listed REIT whose dividend we measure against AFFO, see the American Tower payout analysis, which measures its Q2 2026 dividend at 66.1% of AFFO against Lamar's 66.7% for the same quarter (our arithmetic), and the VICI Properties casino-rent analysis. Match quarters when comparing: Lamar's Q1 2026 ratio was 93.0%.

The useful alert is the Q3 10-Q on November 5 and the next dividend declaration. This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: Lamar Advertising's Q2 2026 Form 10-Q, Q2 2026 earnings release, Q1 2026 release, Q4 2025 release, Q3 2025 release, Q2 2025 release, 2025 Form 10-K, September 1, 2026 dividend 8-K, October 6, 2026 8-K, and the October 7, 2026 results-date announcement. Primary-source review cutoff: October 19, 2026. Sources are saved with the downloadable research dataset; computed ratios are identified as our arithmetic.