Financial Survey: CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) vs. OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT)

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

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares OUTFRONT Media and CubeSmart”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
OUTFRONT Media	$1.83 billion	1.69	$258.20 million	$0.58	31.85
CubeSmart	$929.08 million	9.94	$391.18 million	$1.64	24.70

CubeSmart has lower revenue, but higher earnings than OUTFRONT Media. CubeSmart is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than OUTFRONT Media, 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 6.5%. CubeSmart pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. OUTFRONT Media pays out 206.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. CubeSmart pays out 126.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. CubeSmart has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

97.6% of CubeSmart shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of OUTFRONT Media shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of CubeSmart shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
OUTFRONT Media	5.99%	18.07%	2.08%
CubeSmart	35.44%	13.12%	5.76%

Risk and Volatility

OUTFRONT Media has a beta of 1.87, indicating that its stock price is 87% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CubeSmart has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for OUTFRONT Media and CubeSmart, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
OUTFRONT Media	0	3	3	0	2.50
CubeSmart	0	10	7	0	2.41

OUTFRONT Media presently has a consensus target price of $19.00, suggesting a potential upside of 2.84%. CubeSmart has a consensus target price of $46.00, suggesting a potential upside of 13.56%. Given CubeSmart’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe CubeSmart is more favorable than OUTFRONT Media.

Summary

CubeSmart beats OUTFRONT Media on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About CubeSmart

CubeSmart is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust. The Company's self-storage properties are designed to offer affordable, easily accessible and, in most locations, climate-controlled storage space for residential and commercial customers. According to the 2023 Self-Storage Almanac, CubeSmart is one of the top three owners and operators of self-storage properties in the United States.