Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 70,922 Shares of OUTFRONT Media Inc. (NYSE:OUT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of OUTFRONT Media Inc. (NYSE:OUT) by 9.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 651,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 70,922 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.39% of OUTFRONT Media worth $11,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 25,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 30.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 994 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 18.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 5.5% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of OUTFRONT Media by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 206,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,235 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on OUT. Wolfe Research downgraded OUTFRONT Media from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of OUTFRONT Media in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com lowered OUTFRONT Media from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on OUTFRONT Media in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on OUTFRONT Media from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.25.

OUTFRONT Media Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of OUT stock opened at $17.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.00, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.14. OUTFRONT Media Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.98 and a 1-year high of $19.33. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.94.

OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.20). OUTFRONT Media had a return on equity of 40.33% and a net margin of 13.30%. The business had revenue of $451.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $456.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. OUTFRONT Media’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that OUTFRONT Media Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

OUTFRONT Media Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. OUTFRONT Media’s dividend payout ratio is currently 87.59%.

About OUTFRONT Media

OUTFRONT leverages the power of technology, location, and creativity to connect brands with consumers outside of their homes through one of the largest and most diverse sets of billboard, transit, and mobile assets in North America. Through its technology platform, OUTFRONT will fundamentally change the ways advertisers engage audiences on-the-go.