OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) Rating Increased to Overweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $25.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $19.00.

Several other research firms also recently commented on OUT. Cowen raised OUTFRONT Media from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of OUTFRONT Media from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a report on Sunday, July 20th. Finally, New Street Research set a $24.00 target price on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a research note on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

OUTFRONT Media Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OUT traded up $0.20 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.67. The company had a trading volume of 1,861,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,590,032. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.75. OUTFRONT Media has a fifty-two week low of $12.95 and a fifty-two week high of $21.88.

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

OUTFRONT Media Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. OUTFRONT Media’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 176.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of OUTFRONT Media

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 31.9% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,848,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,870,000 after purchasing an additional 447,391 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in OUTFRONT Media by 136.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 48,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 28,198 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in OUTFRONT Media in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $172,000. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 1.4% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 275,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,042,000 after acquiring an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 53.4% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 898,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,453,000 after acquiring an additional 312,763 shares during the period.

OUTFRONT Media Company 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.