Critical Contrast: Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) versus CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE)

Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) and CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Piedmont Realty Trust and CubeSmart, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Piedmont Realty Trust	1	2	1	0	2.00
CubeSmart	0	11	5	0	2.31

Piedmont Realty Trust presently has a consensus price target of $9.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.71%. CubeSmart has a consensus price target of $44.13, indicating a potential upside of 9.48%. Given Piedmont Realty Trust’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Piedmont Realty Trust is more favorable than CubeSmart.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

84.5% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.6% of CubeSmart shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of CubeSmart shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Piedmont Realty Trust and CubeSmart’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Piedmont Realty Trust	-14.80%	-5.44%	-2.09%
CubeSmart	33.31%	12.49%	5.37%

Volatility & Risk

Piedmont Realty Trust has a beta of 1.26, meaning that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CubeSmart has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Piedmont Realty Trust and CubeSmart”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Piedmont Realty Trust	$564.99 million	1.76	-$83.62 million	($0.68)	-11.74
CubeSmart	$929.08 million	9.89	$391.18 million	$1.56	25.84

CubeSmart has higher revenue and earnings than Piedmont Realty Trust. Piedmont Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CubeSmart, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

CubeSmart beats Piedmont Realty Trust on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Piedmont Realty Trust

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (also referred to herein as "Piedmont" or the "Company") (NYSE: PDM) is an owner, manager, developer, redeveloper and operator of high-quality, Class A office properties located primarily in major U.S. Sunbelt markets. The Company is a fully-integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") with local management offices in each of its markets and is investment-grade rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's. The Company was designated an Energy Star Partner of the Year for 2021, 2022 and 2023, and it was the only office REIT headquartered in the Southeast to receive those designations. Approximately 85% of the Company's square footage is Energy Star certified and nearly 70% is LEED certified. Piedmont is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.

About CubeSmart

CubeSmart is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust. The Company's self-storage properties are designed to offer affordable, easily accessible and, in most locations, climate-controlled storage space for residential and commercial customers. According to the 2023 Self-Storage Almanac, CubeSmart is one of the top three owners and operators of self-storage properties in the United States.