Contrasting Public Storage (PSA) and The Competition

Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) is one of 35 public companies in the “Specialized REITs” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Public Storage to related companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, earnings and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

78.8% of Public Storage shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.0% of shares of all “Specialized REITs” companies are held by institutional investors. 11.1% of Public Storage shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.5% of shares of all “Specialized REITs” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Public Storage and its peers revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Public Storage	$5.03 billion	$1.78 billion	34.03
Public Storage Competitors	$2.65 billion	$596.00 million	31.86

Public Storage has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. Public Storage is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Public Storage and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Public Storage	0	14	7	0	2.33
Public Storage Competitors	516	2768	3649	191	2.49

Public Storage currently has a consensus price target of $323.68, suggesting a potential downside of 0.39%. As a group, “Specialized REITs” companies have a potential upside of 17.18%. Given Public Storage’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Public Storage has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Profitability

This table compares Public Storage and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Public Storage	37.76%	29.93%	8.52%
Public Storage Competitors	-5.42%	-3.45%	2.01%

Dividends

Public Storage pays an annual dividend of $12.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Public Storage pays out 125.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Specialized REITs” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.4% and pay out 120.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Volatility & Risk

Public Storage has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Public Storage’s peers have a beta of 0.94, meaning that their average stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Public Storage beats its peers on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

About Public Storage

Public Storage, a member of the S&P 500 and FT Global 500, is a REIT that primarily acquires, develops, owns, and operates self-storage facilities. At December 31, 2023, we had: (i) interests in 3,044 self-storage facilities located in 40 states with approximately 218 million net rentable square feet in the United States and (ii) a 35% common equity interest in Shurgard Self Storage Limited (Euronext Brussels: SHUR), which owned 275 self-storage facilities located in seven Western European nations with approximately 15 million net rentable square feet operated under the Shurgard brand. Our headquarters are located in Glendale, California.