Advisors Capital Management LLC Acquires New Stake in OUTFRONT Media Inc. $OUT

Advisors Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OUTFRONT Media Inc. (NYSE:OUT) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,383,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $22,330,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC owned 0.83% of OUTFRONT Media at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its position in OUTFRONT Media by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 11,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $199,000 after buying an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in OUTFRONT Media by 8.5% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in OUTFRONT Media by 0.4% in the first quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 212,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,422,000 after buying an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in OUTFRONT Media by 8.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 12,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its position in OUTFRONT Media by 12.4% in the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 12,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 1,397 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other OUTFRONT Media news, major shareholder Pep Viii Gp Llc sold 8,400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.06, for a total value of $151,704,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,913,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,983,462.78. This represents a 48.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark Emilio Bonanni sold 4,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.38, for a total value of $79,961.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,814.60. This trade represents a 49.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,454,126 shares of company stock worth $152,575,272. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on OUT shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of OUTFRONT Media from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a report on Sunday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of OUTFRONT Media from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of OUTFRONT Media from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.00.

OUTFRONT Media Price Performance

NYSE OUT opened at $18.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.60, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.72. OUTFRONT Media Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.95 and a 52-week high of $19.80.

OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. OUTFRONT Media had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 18.07%. The firm had revenue of $460.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $463.16 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that OUTFRONT Media Inc. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OUTFRONT Media Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. OUTFRONT Media’s dividend payout ratio is 206.90%.

About OUTFRONT Media

OUTFRONT Media, Inc leases advertising space on out-of-home advertising structures and sites. Its inventory consists of billboard displays, which are primarily located on the most heavily traveled highways & roadways, and transit advertising displays operated under exclusive multi-year contracts with municipalities in large cities across the U.S.