Columbia Asset Management Boosts Stake in Public Storage (NYSE:PSA)

Columbia Asset Management increased its stake in Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) by 17.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,925 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 745 shares during the period. Columbia Asset Management’s holdings in Public Storage were worth $1,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Public Storage during the 4th quarter worth $821,151,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Public Storage by 86.8% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 645,168 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $187,137,000 after purchasing an additional 299,826 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Public Storage by 34.4% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,100,705 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $319,270,000 after purchasing an additional 281,800 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Public Storage by 4.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,432,643 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,575,794,000 after purchasing an additional 219,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Public Storage by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,946,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,075,681,000 after purchasing an additional 217,487 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.79% of the company’s stock.

Public Storage Stock Down 0.8 %

PSA opened at $341.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $311.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.93. Public Storage has a 52 week low of $233.18 and a 52 week high of $347.77. The stock has a market cap of $59.71 billion, a PE ratio of 30.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.67.

Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.20 by ($1.54). The firm had revenue of $921.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Public Storage had a return on equity of 36.55% and a net margin of 44.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Public Storage will post 16.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Public Storage Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Public Storage’s payout ratio is 108.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Nathaniel A. Vitan sold 400 shares of Public Storage stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.29, for a total value of $109,716.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $881,568.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 11.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PSA. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Public Storage from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America cut Public Storage from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $318.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Public Storage from $303.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Public Storage from $327.00 to $374.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Public Storage to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Public Storage has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.77.

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.