Merit Financial Group LLC Has $1.31 Million Stake in Public Storage (NYSE:PSA)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,295 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Public Storage were worth $1,310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Public Storage by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,168,763 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $835,032,000 after buying an additional 729,262 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Public Storage by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,470,839 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $633,949,000 after buying an additional 451,864 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Public Storage by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,311,981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $609,253,000 after buying an additional 63,289 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Public Storage by 0.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,680,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $442,753,000 after buying an additional 13,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Public Storage by 6.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,330,220 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $350,540,000 after acquiring an additional 80,784 shares during the period. 78.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Public Storage Trading Up 0.7 %

Public Storage stock traded up $1.83 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $265.76. 662,239 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 697,055. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $275.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Public Storage has a 52 week low of $233.18 and a 52 week high of $312.25.

Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.15 by ($1.94). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Public Storage had a return on equity of 36.17% and a net margin of 45.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Public Storage will post 16.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Public Storage Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.52%. Public Storage’s payout ratio is 108.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PSA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Public Storage in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Public Storage from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Public Storage from $267.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Public Storage from $307.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Raymond James raised Public Storage from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $330.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.00.

Public Storage Profile

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.