Benchstone Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 1,636,881 OUTFRONT Media Inc. (NYSE:OUT)

Benchstone Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of OUTFRONT Media Inc. (NYSE:OUT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,636,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $29,038,000. OUTFRONT Media makes up approximately 3.0% of Benchstone Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in OUTFRONT Media by 43.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 501,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,218,000 after acquiring an additional 150,669 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 653.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 229,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,260,000 after purchasing an additional 199,356 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 403.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,687,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,400,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153,423 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in OUTFRONT Media by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 18,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 698 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OUT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on OUTFRONT Media from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.08.

OUTFRONT Media Stock Performance

NYSE OUT opened at $15.72 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $15.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.73. The company has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.84. OUTFRONT Media Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.95 and a 1 year high of $19.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.00, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $493.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $490.42 million. OUTFRONT Media had a return on equity of 40.33% and a net margin of 13.30%. As a group, analysts expect that OUTFRONT Media Inc. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

OUTFRONT Media Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.63%. OUTFRONT Media’s payout ratio is 81.63%.

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.