Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 5,722 Shares of Public Storage $PSA

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) by 77.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,146 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 5,722 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Public Storage were worth $3,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA bought a new stake in shares of Public Storage in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in Public Storage in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Public Storage in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Public Storage during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Public Storage by 39.8% during the 1st quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 151 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 78.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Public Storage Trading Down 1.0%

Public Storage stock opened at $290.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $286.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $291.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.70, a PEG ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. Public Storage has a 52 week low of $256.60 and a 52 week high of $355.87.

Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.23 by $0.05. Public Storage had a return on equity of 34.06% and a net margin of 38.13%.The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Public Storage has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.450-17.00 EPS. Analysts expect that Public Storage will post 16.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Public Storage Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Public Storage’s payout ratio is 130.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PSA shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Public Storage from $312.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “cautious” rating in a report on Friday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Public Storage to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Public Storage in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Public Storage from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on Public Storage in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $331.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.92.

Public Storage Company 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.