Four Corners Property Trust (NYSE:FCPT) and OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) Critical Analysis

Four Corners Property Trust (NYSE:FCPT) and OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) are both mid-cap real estate companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends and risk.

Dividends

Four Corners Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.51 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.5%. OUTFRONT Media pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Four Corners Property Trust pays out 138.5% 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 89.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Four Corners Property Trust has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Four Corners Property Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility & Risk

Four Corners Property Trust has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OUTFRONT Media has a beta of 1.56, meaning that its stock price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Four Corners Property Trust and OUTFRONT Media, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Four Corners Property Trust	0	6	4	1	2.55
OUTFRONT Media	0	1	6	0	2.86

Four Corners Property Trust currently has a consensus target price of $26.45, indicating a potential upside of 13.01%. OUTFRONT Media has a consensus target price of $34.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.63%. Given Four Corners Property Trust’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Four Corners Property Trust is more favorable than OUTFRONT Media.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

98.7% of Four Corners Property Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Four Corners Property Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of OUTFRONT Media shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Four Corners Property Trust 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
Four Corners Property Trust	$315.93 million	8.13	$112.36 million	$1.09	21.48
OUTFRONT Media	$1.93 billion	2.80	$147.00 million	$1.47	20.91

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

Profitability

This table compares Four Corners Property Trust and OUTFRONT Media’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Four Corners Property Trust	37.53%	7.24%	3.90%
OUTFRONT Media	13.06%	37.42%	4.90%

About Four Corners Property Trust

Four Corners Property Trust, Inc. engages in the owning, acquisition, and leasing of properties for use in the restaurant and food-service related industries. It operates through the Real Estate Operations and Restaurant Operations segments. The Real Estate Operations segment consists of rental revenues generated by leasing restaurant properties. The Restaurant Operations segment includes the Kerrow Restaurant operating business. The company was founded on July 2, 2015 and is headquartered in Mill Valley, CA.

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.