Financial Analysis: Franklin Street Properties (NYSE:FSP) & OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT)

Franklin Street Properties (NYSE:FSP) and OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Franklin Street Properties and OUTFRONT Media, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Franklin Street Properties	0	0	0	0	0.00
OUTFRONT Media	0	4	3	0	2.43

OUTFRONT Media has a consensus target price of $18.23, indicating a potential upside of 11.76%. Given OUTFRONT Media’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe OUTFRONT Media is more favorable than Franklin Street Properties.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Franklin Street Properties and OUTFRONT Media”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Franklin Street Properties	$115.99 million	1.61	-$52.72 million	($0.64)	-2.81
OUTFRONT Media	$1.81 billion	1.50	-$430.40 million	$1.52	10.73

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

Risk and Volatility

Franklin Street Properties has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OUTFRONT Media has a beta of 1.89, suggesting that its stock price is 89% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

61.4% of Franklin Street Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 9.6% of Franklin Street Properties shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of OUTFRONT Media shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Franklin Street Properties pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. OUTFRONT Media pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.4%. Franklin Street Properties pays out -6.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. OUTFRONT Media pays out 78.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Franklin Street Properties	-43.90%	-7.79%	-5.30%
OUTFRONT Media	13.30%	40.33%	4.54%

Summary

OUTFRONT Media beats Franklin Street Properties on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Franklin Street Properties

Franklin Street Properties Corp., based in Wakefield, Massachusetts, is focused on infill and central business district (CBD) office properties in the U.S. Sunbelt and Mountain West, as well as select opportunistic markets. FSP seeks value-oriented investments with an eye towards long-term growth and appreciation, as well as current income. FSP is a Maryland corporation that operates in a manner intended to qualify as a real estate investment trust (REIT) for federal income tax purposes.

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.