Analyzing OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) and RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ)

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

92.4% of RLJ Lodging Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of RLJ Lodging Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of OUTFRONT Media shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

RLJ Lodging Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.5%. OUTFRONT Media pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. RLJ Lodging Trust pays out 3,000.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. OUTFRONT Media pays out 150.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. RLJ Lodging Trust has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. RLJ Lodging Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares RLJ Lodging Trust 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
RLJ Lodging Trust	$1.35 billion	0.90	$28.51 million	$0.02	398.25
OUTFRONT Media	$1.83 billion	2.89	$147.00 million	$0.80	37.55

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for RLJ Lodging Trust and OUTFRONT Media, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
RLJ Lodging Trust	3	4	1	1	2.00
OUTFRONT Media	0	1	6	0	2.86

RLJ Lodging Trust currently has a consensus target price of $8.00, suggesting a potential upside of 0.44%. OUTFRONT Media has a consensus target price of $27.86, suggesting a potential downside of 7.26%. Given RLJ Lodging Trust’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe RLJ Lodging Trust is more favorable than OUTFRONT Media.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
RLJ Lodging Trust	2.11%	1.54%	0.59%
OUTFRONT Media	8.03%	24.86%	2.83%

Volatility and Risk

RLJ Lodging Trust has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OUTFRONT Media has a beta of 1.51, suggesting that its stock price is 51% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

OUTFRONT Media beats RLJ Lodging Trust on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About RLJ Lodging Trust

RLJ Lodging Trust is a self-advised, publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns primarily premium-branded, high-margin, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. The Company's portfolio currently consists of 96 hotels with approximately 21,200 rooms, located in 23 states and the District of Columbia and an ownership interest in one unconsolidated hotel with 171 rooms.

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.