Anson Funds Management LP Buys New Position in OUTFRONT Media Inc. $OUT

Key Points

• Anson Funds Management LP has acquired a new stake in OUTFRONT Media, purchasing 65,000 shares valued at approximately $1,049,000 during the first quarter.
• OUTFRONT Media reported a quarterly EPS of $0.51, exceeding analyst expectations, but saw a 3.6% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30, representing a 6.4% yield, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 206.90%.

Anson Funds Management LP bought a new stake in OUTFRONT Media Inc. (NYSE:OUT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 65,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,049,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 valued at $11,093,000 after buying an additional 16,470 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 1,484.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,138 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $971,000 after buying an additional 56,342 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 429.8% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 32,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 26,577 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 122.2% in the first quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 500,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,070,000 after buying an additional 275,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in OUTFRONT Media by 162.1% in the first 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 period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on OUT shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded OUTFRONT Media from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on OUTFRONT Media from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on OUTFRONT Media from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, OUTFRONT Media currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.00.

OUTFRONT Media Price Performance

Shares of OUT stock traded down $0.33 on Tuesday, hitting $18.75. 419,991 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,590,661. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.60, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.61. OUTFRONT Media Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.95 and a 12 month high of $19.80. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $18.18 and a 200 day moving average of $16.71.

OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT - Get Free Report) last announced 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. OUTFRONT Media had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 5.99%.The business had revenue of $460.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $463.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. OUTFRONT Media's revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that OUTFRONT Media Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

OUTFRONT Media Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. OUTFRONT Media's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 206.90%.

Insider Activity

In other OUTFRONT Media news, EVP Mark Emilio Bonanni sold 4,126 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,814.60. This trade represents a 49.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Pep Viii Gp Llc sold 8,400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.06, for a total value of $151,704,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 8,913,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $160,983,462.78. This represents a 48.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.