Outfront (OUT) Wins Billboard Management Contract From MBTA

Outfront Media (NYSE:OUT) announced the signing of a new deal with Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (“MBTA”) to handle 125 billboards on the properties owned by them. The operations by Outfront started from Mar 4, 2018.

This deal acts as an extension of Outfront’s existing partnership with MBTA. This contract will help the company to form a strong network in the Boston market. Particularly, the company will have the scope to combine its current MBTA subway and commuter-rail advertising inventory that it manages with the billboards.

Per Andy Sriubas, Chief Commercial Officer at Outfront, "Creating a network effect between these advertising locations has benefits for advertisers, provides enhanced information for commuters and drives non-fare revenue for the MBTA."

Recently, Outfront released its fourth-quarter 2017 results. The results indicated higher local sales in transit and other revenues. It also benefited from the acquired digital billboards in Canada as well as the conversion of static billboards to digital.

However, the results bore the brunt of weakness in the national advertising market. Further, the environment is expected to be more sluggish in the upcoming periods, limiting revenue growth for the company.

Outfront is a leading provider of out-of-home advertising space in key markets throughout the United States and Canada. With billboard, transit and digital displays, the company provides advertising services to diverse industries across 25 largest markets in the United States and around 150 markets in the United States and Canada.

Nonetheless, due to the dull national advertising market, shares of Outfront have underperformed its industry in the past three months. During this time frame, the stock has lost 12.5% compared with industry’s decline of 4.2%.

Outfront carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Stocks Worth a Look

A few better-ranked stocks from the real estate space include CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG) , FirstService Corp. (NASDAQ:FSV) and HFF, Inc. (NYSE:HF) .

HFF’s earnings per share estimates for 2018 have been revised 22.6% upward to $2.88 over the past month. The stock has gained 2.7% during the past three months. It sports a Zacks Rank of 1.

CBRE Group’s Zacks Consensus Estimates for 2018 earnings per share have been revised 5.3% upward to $2.98 over the past month. Also, it carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The company’s share price has risen 5.8% in three months’ time.

FirstService Corporation’s earnings per share estimates for the current year have inched up 17.8% to $2.65 in a month’s time. Its shares have gained 1.7% over the past three months. The stock has a Zacks Rank of 2.

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