Back to top

Image: Bigstock

OUTFRONT Media to Fly High on Transit-Asset Digitalization

Read MoreHide Full Article

With large-scale presence in majority of the 10 most populous transit systems in the United States, OUTFRONT Media Inc. (OUT - Free Report) is witnessing growth in its transit portfolio. In fact, the company has bagged and renewed/extended important advertising contracts in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Washington D.C., Boston, Atlanta and Miami among others, over the past year.   

Through these efforts, it boasts an impressive footprint across more than 70 metros in the nation, providing unrivalled communication between brands and audiences. Moreover, its national presence enables advertisers to launch highly-engaging campaigns at distinct locations.

Amid these, OUTFRONT Media’s state-of-the-art digital transformations efforts in transit environment are a strategic fit to attract even more brands to this advertising media. The company’s large-scale installation of new digital liveboard displays further pronounces these efforts.

In early 2018, this REIT started the deployment of more than 50,000 liveboards throughout subway and commuter rail stations in New York, making it the largest installation of out-of-home (OOH) digital display media in the world. The company continues to install liveboards at transit stations in other locations, such as Boston, Washington D.C. and Miami. Also, in 2019, it aims to strengthen digital presence in the BART system of San Francisco.  

Once the deployment is completed, the digital transit displays are expected to generate revenues in multiple of that generated on a comparable static transit. Specifically, these liveboards offer dynamic capabilities, such as full motion video, live data triggers and cross screen sync, that enable impactful communication.

Notably, transit has become a crucial component of any campaign’s marketing mix since brands can leverage on more touchpoints with target audiences. In fact, brands like Olay, Casper, Spotify, ThirdLove, and many more have increasingly invested in transit advertising campaigns that provide visual diversity and superior mass exposure. These are generally aimed at increasing brand awareness and store visits.   

While OUTFRONT Media continues to pioneer the OOH space with innovative technologies, these digital deployments involve significant costs. In fact, in line with these efforts, the company anticipates to incur significant capital expenditures in the near term. This will likely impact its bottom-line performance. 
   
In the past six months, shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have declined 8.5% compared to the 10.2% loss incurred by its industry.




Key Picks

Some better-ranked stocks from the REIT space are Lamar Advertising Company (LAMR - Free Report) , PS Business Parks, Inc. and Terreno Realty Corporation (TRNO - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see  the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Lamar’s funds from operations (FFO) per share estimates for 2019 have been marginally revised upward to $5.89 in the past 30 days.

PS Business Parks’ Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 FFO per share remained unchanged at $6.58 over the past month.

Terreno Realty’s FFO per share estimates for 2019 remained unrevised at $1.39 in 30 days’ time.

The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All

Last year, it generated $8 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $47 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.

See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Pick one free report - opportunity may be withdrawn at any time


Lamar Advertising Company (LAMR) - free report >>

Terreno Realty Corporation (TRNO) - free report >>

OUTFRONT Media Inc. (OUT) - free report >>

Published in