Contrasting Lineage (NASDAQ:LINE) & OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT)

Lineage (NASDAQ:LINE) and OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lineage	-2.72%	-1.56%	-0.76%
OUTFRONT Media	9.98%	30.36%	3.57%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Lineage and OUTFRONT Media”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lineage	$5.36 billion	1.81	-$100.00 million	($0.62)	-68.76
OUTFRONT Media	$1.83 billion	3.00	$147.00 million	$1.05	29.68

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Lineage and OUTFRONT Media, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lineage	5	11	4	0	1.95
OUTFRONT Media	0	1	6	0	2.86

Lineage currently has a consensus price target of $43.56, suggesting a potential upside of 2.17%. OUTFRONT Media has a consensus price target of $30.71, suggesting a potential downside of 1.44%. Given Lineage’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Lineage is more favorable than OUTFRONT Media.

Risk and Volatility

Lineage has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OUTFRONT Media has a beta of 1.49, meaning that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Lineage pays an annual dividend of $2.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. OUTFRONT Media pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Lineage pays out -343.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. OUTFRONT Media pays out 114.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Lineage is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

OUTFRONT Media beats Lineage on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lineage

Lineage, Inc. is the world’s largest global temperature-controlled warehouse REIT with a network of over 480 strategically located facilities totaling over 84.1 million square feet and 3.0 billion cubic feet of capacity across countries in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Coupling end-to-end supply chain solutions and technology, Lineage partners with some of the world’s largest food and beverage producers, retailers, and distributors to help increase distribution efficiency, advance sustainability, minimize supply chain waste, and, most importantly, feed the world.

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.