Critical Analysis: LXP Industrial Trust (NYSE:LXP) vs. OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT)

OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) and LXP Industrial Trust (NYSE:LXP) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

OUTFRONT Media has a beta of 1.94, suggesting that its stock price is 94% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LXP Industrial Trust has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares OUTFRONT Media and LXP Industrial Trust”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
OUTFRONT Media	$1.84 billion	1.62	-$430.40 million	($2.66)	-6.77
LXP Industrial Trust	$340.42 million	8.20	$30.38 million	$0.04	237.25

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

Dividends

OUTFRONT Media pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.7%. LXP Industrial Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. OUTFRONT Media pays out -45.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. LXP Industrial Trust pays out 1,300.0% 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 is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
OUTFRONT Media	12.32%	37.83%	4.15%
LXP Industrial Trust	9.50%	1.51%	0.80%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for OUTFRONT Media and LXP Industrial Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
OUTFRONT Media	0	2	2	0	2.50
LXP Industrial Trust	0	1	3	0	2.75

OUTFRONT Media presently has a consensus price target of $18.50, suggesting a potential upside of 2.66%. LXP Industrial Trust has a consensus price target of $11.25, suggesting a potential upside of 18.55%. Given LXP Industrial Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe LXP Industrial Trust is more favorable than OUTFRONT Media.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.5% of LXP Industrial Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of OUTFRONT Media shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of LXP Industrial Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

LXP Industrial Trust beats OUTFRONT Media on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About OUTFRONT Media

OUTFRONT leverages the power of technology, location, and creativity to connect brands with consumers outside of their homes through one of the largest and most diverse sets of billboard, transit, and mobile assets in North America. Through its technology platform, OUTFRONT will fundamentally change the ways advertisers engage audiences on-the-go.

About LXP Industrial Trust

LXP Industrial Trust (NYSE: LXP) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on single-tenant industrial real estate investments across the United States. LXP seeks to expand its industrial portfolio through acquisitions, build-to-suit transactions, sale-leaseback transactions, development projects and other transactions.