Advisors Asset Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 36,308 OUTFRONT Media Inc. $OUT

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in OUTFRONT Media, purchasing 36,308 shares valued at approximately $586,000 in the first quarter.
• OUTFRONT Media reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations by $0.03, despite quarterly revenue declining by 3.6% year-over-year.
• The company has announced a $0.30 quarterly dividend scheduled for September 30th, representing a 6.4% dividend yield, but comes with a notably high payout ratio of 206.90%.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in OUTFRONT Media Inc. (NYSE:OUT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 36,308 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $586,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of OUT. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 2.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 687,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,093,000 after purchasing an additional 16,470 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in OUTFRONT Media by 1,484.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,138 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $971,000 after purchasing an additional 56,342 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in OUTFRONT Media by 429.8% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 32,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 26,577 shares during the period. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC grew its position in OUTFRONT Media by 122.2% in the 1st quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 500,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,070,000 after purchasing an additional 275,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in OUTFRONT Media by 162.1% in the 1st quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 123,675 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,996,000 after purchasing an additional 76,486 shares during the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mark Emilio Bonanni sold 4,126 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.38, for a total transaction of $79,961.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,170 shares in the company, valued at $80,814.60. This represents a 49.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Pep Viii Gp Llc sold 8,400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.06, for a total transaction of $151,704,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,913,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,983,462.78. This represents a 48.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on OUT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $19.00 target price (up from $17.00) on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of OUTFRONT Media from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of OUTFRONT Media from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.00.

OUTFRONT Media Price Performance

Shares of OUTFRONT Media stock traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $18.75. 1,268,009 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,566,757. OUTFRONT Media Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $12.95 and a fifty-two week high of $19.80. The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.60.

OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $460.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $463.16 million. OUTFRONT Media had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 18.07%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that OUTFRONT Media Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OUTFRONT Media Dividend Announcement

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

OUTFRONT Media Profile

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.