Critical Survey: OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) and Global Self Storage (NASDAQ:SELF)

Global Self Storage (NASDAQ:SELF) and OUTFRONT Media (NYSE:OUT) are both real estate companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, earnings and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

28.9% of Global Self Storage shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.7% of Global Self Storage shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of OUTFRONT Media shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Global Self Storage and OUTFRONT Media’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Global Self Storage	16.64%	4.57%	3.32%
OUTFRONT Media	12.66%	37.44%	4.65%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Global Self Storage and OUTFRONT Media”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Global Self Storage	$12.70 million	4.39	$2.04 million	$0.18	27.11
OUTFRONT Media	$1.83 billion	2.99	$147.00 million	$1.39	22.35

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

Dividends

Global Self Storage pays an annual dividend of $0.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.9%. OUTFRONT Media pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Global Self Storage pays out 161.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. OUTFRONT Media pays out 95.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Volatility and Risk

Global Self Storage has a beta of -0.02, meaning that its stock price is 102% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OUTFRONT Media has a beta of 1.53, meaning that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Global Self Storage and OUTFRONT Media, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Global Self Storage	0	1	0	0	2.00
OUTFRONT Media	0	1	6	0	2.86

OUTFRONT Media has a consensus price target of $34.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.42%. Given OUTFRONT Media’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe OUTFRONT Media is more favorable than Global Self Storage.

Summary

OUTFRONT Media beats Global Self Storage on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Global Self Storage

Global Self Storage is a self-administered and self-managed REIT that owns, operates, manages, acquires, and redevelops self-storage properties. The company's self-storage properties are designed to offer affordable, easily accessible and secure storage space for residential and commercial customers. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, the company owns and/or manages 13 self-storage properties in Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Oklahoma.

About OUTFRONT Media

OUTFRONT Media, Inc. leases advertising space on out-of-home advertising structures and sites. Its inventory consists of billboard displays, which are primarily located on the most heavily traveled highways & roadways, and transit advertising displays operated under exclusive multi-year contracts with municipalities in large cities across the U.S. and Canada. It operates through the U.S. Media and other segments. The U.S. Media segment includes U.S. Billboard and Transit. The company was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in New York, NY.