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Key Reasons to Add OUTFRONT Media (OUT) to Your Portfolio Now

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OUTFRONT Media's (OUT - Free Report) well-diversified portfolio of advertising sites and large-scale presence bodes well. Also, strategic investments and expansion efforts to enhance its digital billboard portfolio provide scope to capitalize on long-term growth opportunities.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2024 funds from operations (FFO) per share stands at $1.68, indicating an increase of 2.4% from the year-ago reported figure.

Over the past three months, shares of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company have gained 15.6% against the industry's decline of 4.8%. Given the strength in its fundamentals, there seems to be additional room for growth for this stock.

 

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Factors That Make OUTFRONT Media a Solid Pick

Portfolio Diversification: OUT’s advertising sites are geographically diversified, with a solid presence across the United States and Canada. This geographic diversity enables its clients to reach a national audience and provides the flexibility to tailor campaigns to specific regions or markets.

This out-of-home (“OOH”) advertising company not only provides communication and advertising services for several transit authorities but also offers services to various industries, including professional services, healthcare/pharmaceuticals and retail.

The diversification makes the company’s revenues less volatile in nature. We estimate its total revenues to increase 1.5% year over year for 2024.

Focus on Digital Billboards: OUTFRONT Media has been making strategic investments in its digital billboard portfolio over the years. In 2023, the company built or converted 84 and 45 new digital billboard displays in the United States and Canada, respectively. Its total digital billboard displays reached 2,191 at the end of 2023, up from 1,970 at the end of 2022.

These demonstrate the company’s efforts to convert its business from traditional static billboard advertising to digital displays, which are helping expand the number of new advertising relationships, thereby providing the scope to boost digital revenues. Our estimate indicates a year-over-year increase of 1.5% and 2% in billboard revenues for 2024 and 2025, respectively.

Industry Tailwinds: Since the cost of advertisement through the OOH medium is also comparatively lower than other media alternatives, the OOH advertising space has been gaining traction, with a significant increase in its market share, in comparison with other forms of media. In the upcoming years, higher technology investments are expected to provide further support to OOH advertising.

Capitalizing on this, the company is expanding its footprint and providing unique technology platforms to marketers in order to tap growth opportunities.

Recently, the company has announced the expansion of programmatic transit advertising in New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) system. It would cover nearly all subway stations owned by the MTA across New York City’s five boroughs and key areas of Long Island and Metro-North Railroad Systems. This expansion will create America's largest programmatically available full-motion transit network.

Acquisitions: OUTFRONT Media has also capitalized on acquisitions to enhance its portfolio. The company carried out asset acquisitions for a total of $33.7 million in 2023, $353.9 million in 2022 and $136.5 million in 2021. With such expansion efforts, the company remains poised to grow over the long term.

Favorable Valuation: OUT stock has a Value Score of B. Our research shows that stocks with a Value Score of A or B, when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2, offer the best upside potential.

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are SL Green Realty (SLG - Free Report) and Lamar Advertising (LAMR - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SLG’s 2024 funds from operations (FFO) per share is pegged at $5.88, suggesting year-over-year growth of 19%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LAMR’s 2024 FFO per share stands at $7.74, indicating an increase of 3.6% from the year-ago quarter.

Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO), a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.


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