Contrasting Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) & Global Net Lease (NYSE:GNL)

Global Net Lease (NYSE:GNL) and Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Global Net Lease and Public Storage’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Global Net Lease	-21.37%	-7.04%	-2.24%
Public Storage	40.54%	34.07%	9.60%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Global Net Lease and Public Storage”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Global Net Lease	$812.62 million	2.10	-$211.91 million	($0.94)	-7.88
Public Storage	$4.68 billion	11.05	$2.15 billion	$9.63	30.66

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

61.2% of Global Net Lease shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.8% of Public Storage shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Global Net Lease shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.0% of Public Storage shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Global Net Lease has a beta of 1.34, suggesting that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Public Storage has a beta of 0.74, suggesting that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Global Net Lease pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 14.8%. Public Storage pays an annual dividend of $12.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Global Net Lease pays out -117.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Public Storage pays out 124.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Global Net Lease is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Global Net Lease and Public Storage, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Global Net Lease	0	2	3	1	2.83
Public Storage	1	6	6	2	2.60

Global Net Lease presently has a consensus price target of $9.50, indicating a potential upside of 28.21%. Public Storage has a consensus price target of $342.07, indicating a potential upside of 15.84%. Given Global Net Lease’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Global Net Lease is more favorable than Public Storage.

Summary

Public Storage beats Global Net Lease on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Global Net Lease

Global Net Lease, Inc. (NYSE: GNL) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust listed on the NYSE. The firm focused on acquiring a diversified global portfolio of commercial properties, with an emphasis on sale-leaseback transactions involving single tenant, mission critical income producing net-leased assets across the United States, Western and Northern Europe.

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.