Wall Street Zen Upgrades OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) to "Hold"

Key Points

• OUTFRONT Media has been upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating, indicating a shift in analyst sentiment.
• Multiple brokerages have issued various ratings for OUTFRONT Media, with a consensus price target of $19.00, reflecting a balance of cautious optimism among analysts.
• The company reported quarterly earnings with an EPS of $0.51, surpassing the consensus estimate and demonstrating a slight year-over-year decline in revenue.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

OUT has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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 reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 price objective (up previously from $17.00) on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.00.

OUTFRONT Media Price Performance

NYSE OUT traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $16.87. 1,349,303 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,589,925. The stock has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $16.98 and a 200-day moving average of $16.71. OUTFRONT Media has a one year low of $12.95 and a one year high of $19.50.

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

OUTFRONT Media Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.1%. OUTFRONT Media's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 206.90%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Richard H. Sauer sold 20,109 shares of OUTFRONT Media stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.88, for a total value of $319,330.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 70,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,124,875.68. The trade was a 22.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of OUTFRONT Media

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 132.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,604,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $276,819,000 after acquiring an additional 8,892,411 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position 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 valued at $126,476,000 after acquiring an additional 555,568 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its position in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 5,243,211 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $93,015,000 after acquiring an additional 2,450,632 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in OUTFRONT Media by 9.9% during the first 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 period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in OUTFRONT Media by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,115,268 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $73,005,000 after purchasing an additional 342,413 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.