Comparing Smartstop Self Storage REIT (NYSE:SMA) & Public Storage (NYSE:PSA)

Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) and Smartstop Self Storage REIT (NYSE:SMA) are both real estate companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

Public Storage pays an annual dividend of $12.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Smartstop Self Storage REIT pays an annual dividend of $1.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. 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. Smartstop Self Storage REIT pays out 309.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Public Storage and Smartstop Self Storage REIT, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Public Storage	0	14	7	0	2.33
Smartstop Self Storage REIT	1	5	3	2	2.55

Public Storage presently has a consensus price target of $323.68, indicating a potential upside of 2.04%. Smartstop Self Storage REIT has a consensus price target of $36.42, indicating a potential upside of 1.92%. Given Public Storage’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Public Storage is more favorable than Smartstop Self Storage REIT.

Volatility & Risk

Public Storage has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Smartstop Self Storage REIT has a beta of 0.48, indicating that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Public Storage and Smartstop Self Storage REIT”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Public Storage	$4.82 billion	11.55	$1.78 billion	$9.55	33.22
Smartstop Self Storage REIT	$281.14 million	7.04	-$1.55 million	$0.51	70.06

Public Storage has higher revenue and earnings than Smartstop Self Storage REIT. Public Storage is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Smartstop Self Storage REIT, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Public Storage and Smartstop Self Storage REIT’s 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%
Smartstop Self Storage REIT	9.68%	2.33%	1.23%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

78.8% of Public Storage shares are held by institutional investors. 11.1% of Public Storage shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.7% of Smartstop Self Storage REIT shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Public Storage beats Smartstop Self Storage REIT on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Smartstop Self Storage REIT

Symmetry Medical Inc. (Symmetry) is a medical device solutions company, including surgical instruments, orthopedic implants, and sterilization cases and trays. The Company designs, develops and offers worldwide production and supply chain capabilities for these products to customers in the orthopedic industry, and other medical device markets (including but not limited to arthroscopy, dental, laparoscopy, osteobiologic, and endoscopy segments). It also manufactures specialized non-healthcare products, primarily in the aerospace industry. The Company operates in two segments: original equipment manufacturer (OEM) solutions and symmetry surgical. On August 15, 2011, the Company acquired PSC Industries, Inc’s Olsen Medical division. On December 29, 2011 it acquired the surgical instruments product portfolio from Codman & Shurtleff, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson Company.