Contrasting Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) & OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT)

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) and OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Dividends

Lamar Advertising pays an annual dividend of $6.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. OUTFRONT Media pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Lamar Advertising pays out 120.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. OUTFRONT Media pays out 95.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Lamar Advertising has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Lamar Advertising is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lamar Advertising and OUTFRONT Media”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lamar Advertising	$2.33 billion	6.77	$587.15 million	$5.48	28.29
OUTFRONT Media	$1.83 billion	2.99	$147.00 million	$1.39	22.35

Lamar Advertising has higher revenue and earnings than OUTFRONT Media. OUTFRONT Media is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lamar Advertising, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Lamar Advertising and OUTFRONT Media’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lamar Advertising	23.90%	54.94%	8.04%
OUTFRONT Media	12.66%	37.44%	4.65%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Lamar Advertising and OUTFRONT Media, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lamar Advertising	0	3	2	0	2.40
OUTFRONT Media	0	1	6	0	2.86

Lamar Advertising currently has a consensus price target of $160.17, indicating a potential upside of 3.32%. OUTFRONT Media has a consensus price target of $34.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.42%. Given OUTFRONT Media’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe OUTFRONT Media is more favorable than Lamar Advertising.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.8% of Lamar Advertising shares are owned by institutional investors. 15.2% of Lamar Advertising shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of OUTFRONT Media shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Lamar Advertising has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OUTFRONT Media has a beta of 1.53, indicating that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Lamar Advertising beats OUTFRONT Media on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lamar Advertising

Lamar Advertising Company operates as an outdoor advertising company in the United States and Canada. The company owns and operates billboards, logo signs, and transit advertising displays, as well as rents space for advertising on billboards, buses, shelters, benches, logo plates, and in airport terminals. Lamar Advertising Company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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. and Canada. It operates through the U.S. Media and other segments. The U.S. Media segment includes U.S. Billboard and Transit. The company was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in New York, NY.