OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on OUT. New Street Research set a $24.00 target price on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. TD Cowen raised OUTFRONT Media from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up from $20.00) on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a research report on Sunday, July 20th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, OUTFRONT Media currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

OUTFRONT Media Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE OUT opened at $21.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.76, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.82. OUTFRONT Media has a one year low of $12.95 and a one year high of $22.17. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.75.

OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $467.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.32 million. OUTFRONT Media had a return on equity of 21.56% and a net margin of 6.86%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that OUTFRONT Media will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

OUTFRONT Media Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. OUTFRONT Media’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 176.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at OUTFRONT Media

In other news, major shareholder Pep Viii Gp Llc sold 8,400,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,913,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,983,462.78. This trade represents a 48.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Mark Emilio Bonanni sold 4,126 shares of OUTFRONT Media stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.38, for a total value of $79,961.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,814.60. This represents a 49.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OUTFRONT Media

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OUT. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 7.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,836,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,476,000 after acquiring an additional 555,568 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in OUTFRONT Media by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,980,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,393,000 after purchasing an additional 448,993 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in OUTFRONT Media by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,973,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,801,000 after buying an additional 527,258 shares in the last quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC boosted its position in OUTFRONT Media by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 3,925,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,063,000 after buying an additional 758,952 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,888,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,142,000 after buying an additional 275,023 shares during the period.

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.