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Dividend Watch: Income from Your Storage Unit Owners (PSA, EXR, SSS, UHAL)

Administrator — Mon, 09 May 2011 15:11:48 +0000

Who hasn’t had a off-site storage unit at some point in their lives? These are all over the country and they are plentiful. Some are high-end and some look like trailer parks. Still, these can offer investors income and appreciation alike.

Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) is a real estate investment trust that has characteristics that might draw in multiple classes of investors. Certainly you know what the company does as you have probably driven by one of its facilities or have probably even been a client. It has been argued that there is a glut of storage units across America, but Public Storage has so far proven to be a winner for income investors and moderate growth investors alike.

The company also owns a 49% equity interest in Shurgard Europe. It released earnings and raised its dividend last week. In that report, its revenues for the Same Store Facilities rose 3.4% and it raised its dividend by nearly 20%. The company listed some 1,931 facilities that are stabilized and owned since January 1, 2009 with some 121.6 million net rentable square feet that represents about 94% of PSA’s aggregate net rentable square feet of our U.S. consolidated self-storage portfolio.

After looking at the new $0.95 payout and a $116 handle, PSA does still offer new investors a dividend yield of just over 3.25%. Two competitors for storage space are Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE: EXR) and Sovran Self Storage Inc. (NYSE: SSS). Extra Space Storage is also a REIT and it pays a yield of about 2.7%. Sovran Self Storage is also a REIT and has a higher yield of about 4.4%, but it is smaller and trades with much thinner trading volume each day. There is also the AMERCO (NASDAQ: UHAL), the parent of U-Haul, but it is not a REIT, it is smaller, it is thinly traded, and it offers no dividend.

A fresh report this morning from Gleacher & Co. remained positive on operational improvements. It cited increased tenant demand and partly refutes the storage oversupply myth as it noted “the absence of new supply.” PSA was listed as high occupancy being above 90%, and it noted the seasonally strong second and third quarters ahead.

Gleacher noted acquisition possibilities for the company and talked up its past dividend growth, but also noted, “We maintain a positive stance for the shorter lease sectors such as apartments and storage. PSA offers a mix of both defensive and offensive qualities—defense from its balance sheet strength and well-covered dividend, and offense from improving operations and growth from acquisitions.”

Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target of only $110.58, but Gleacher & Co. reiterated its ‘Buy’ rating and it raised its target by $3.00 to $125.00. Shares are at $116.51 today and the 52-week range is $85.04 to $118.88.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Dividend, REIT Tagged: EXR, PSA, SSS, UHAL

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (APSG, MT, ARBA, ARMH, ATW, CEDC, CIEN, CRUS, FNGN, GMCR, MEE, PSA, SNDK, SOLF, TER)

Administrator — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 13:19:39 +0000

These are some of this Monday’s key analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls.

Applied Signal Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: APSG) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Ariba Inc. (NASDAQ: ARBA) Raised to Buy at Roth Capital.
ARM Holdings plc (NASDAQL: ARMH) Started as Sell at Societe Generale.
Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE: ATW) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Central European Distribution Corp. (NASDAQ: CEDC) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Cirrus Logic Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Financial Engines, Inc. (NASDAQ: FNGN) Started as Buy at Needham.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Massey Energy Co. (NYSE: MEE) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) Raised to Buy at UBS.
SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Solarfun Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: SOLF) Raised to Buy at Auriga.
Teradyne Inc. (NYSE: TER) Raised to Buy at Citi.

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JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: APSG, ARBA, ARMH, ATW, CEDC, CIEN, CRUS, FNGN, GMCR, MEE, MT, PSA, SNDK, SOLF, TER

Top 10 Anlayst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (AA, AIRV, BCSI, DEER, INTC, PALM, MA, PSA, STX, V)

247wallst — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:06:37 +0000

These are this Monday’s top 10 analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, and Initiations seen in Wall Street research calls:

Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE: AA) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Airvana Inc. (NASDAQ: AIRV) Cut to Hold at Needham.
Blue Coat Systems (NASDAQ: BCSI) Cut to Neutral at Merriman Curhan Ford.
Deer Consumer Products (NASDAQ: DEER) Started as Outperform at William Blair.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) Raised to Hold at Morgan Joseph.
Mastercard (NYSE: MA) Started as Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) Started as Hold at Credit Suisse.
Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) Started as Overweight at Thomas Weisel.

You can sign up for our free daily email to hear more news on key analyst calls, top day trader alerts, mergers and acquisitions, Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: AA, AIRV, BCSI, DEER, INTC, MA, PALM, PSA, STX, V

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (ARIA, ADSK, BJ, CX, ENOC, GLNG, IT, N, PSA, WMT)

247wallst — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:00:00 +0000

These are the top pre-market analyst upgrades and downgrades from Wall Street firms we have seen early this Monday morning:

Ariad Pharma (NASDAQ: ARIA) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) Raised to Buy at BofA Merrill Lynch.
BJ’s Wholesale (NYSE: BJ) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
CEMEX S.A. (NYSE: CX) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
EnerNOC (NASDAQ: ENOC) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
Gartner (NYSE: IT) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Golar LNG (NASDAQ: GLNG) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
NetSuite (NYSE: N) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) Raised to Buy at Rochdale.

JON C. OGG
August 17, 2009

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ADSK, ARIA, BJ, CX, ENOC, GLNG, IT, N, PSA, WMT

Top Analyst Downgrades (COP, EXBD, GET, NSR, PSA, GOLD)

247wallst — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:40:15 +0000

These are the top pre-market analyst downgrades or cautious research calls we have seen from Wall Street this Thursday morning:

Conoco Philips (COP) Started as Sell at Societe Generale.
Corporate Executive Board (EXBD) Cut to Underperform at Baird.
Gaylord Entertainment Co. (GET) Cut to Underperform at FBR.
Neustar (NSR) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Public Storage (PSA) Started as Underperform at KBW.
Rangold Resources (GOLD) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: COP, EXBD, GET, gold, NSR, PSA

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (APC, ATML, CBY, CEO, EXR, N, OXY, OZM, PSA, WFC)

247wallst — Tue, 05 May 2009 11:27:01 +0000

These are ten of the top pre-market analyst calls we have seen early this Tuesday morning with more than two hours until the market opens:
Anadarko Petroleum (APC) Cut to Equal Weight at Barclays.
Atmel (ATML) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Cadbury Schweppes (CBY) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
CNOOC Ltd (CEO) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Extra Space Storage (EXR) Cut to Underweight at KeyBanc.
Netsuite (N) Cut to Sell at Piper Jaffray.
Occidental Petroleum (OXY) Raised to Outperform at Barclays.
Och-Ziff Capital (OZM) Raised to Outperform at KBW.
Public Storage (PSA) Cut to Underweight at KeyBanc.
Wells Fargo (WFC) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: APC, ATML, CBY, CEO, EXR, N, OXY, OZM, PSA, WFC

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (AWK, BDK, ERII, FRED, LEN, PSA, WMT)

247wallst — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:55:19 +0000

These are some of the positive analyst calls and upgrades we are seeing early this Tuesday morning:

American Water Works (AWK) Started as Buy at Societe General.
Black & Decker (BDK) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Energy Recovery (ERII) Started as Buy at Piper Jaffray.
Fred’s (FRED) Raised to Outperform at William Blair.
Lennar (LEN) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Public Storage (PSA) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Wal-Mart (WMT) Raised to Outperform at William Blair.

Jon C. Ogg
November 25, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: AWK, BDK, ERII, FRED, LEN, PSA, WMT

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (BXP, DWA, DUK, MET, MTB, PRXL, POR, PFG, PSA, UDR)

247wallst — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:02:08 +0000

These are some of the top pre-market analyst calls we are seeing this Friday morning:

Boston Properties (BXP) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
DreamWorks Animation (DWA) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Duke Energy (DUK) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
MetLife (MET) Resumed at Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
M&T Bank Corp (MTB) Raised to Neutral at Baird.
Parexel (PRXL) Raised to Outperform at William Blair.
Portland General (POR) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Principal Financial (PFG) Raised to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.
Public Storage (PSA) Raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
UDR Inc. (UDR) Raised to Outperform at FBR.

Jon C. Ogg
October 10, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: BXP, DUK, DWA, MET, MTB, PFG, POR, PRXL, PSA, UDR

Storage Trusts Follow Public Storage Down, Despite U-Store-It Rising (PSA, YSI, EXR, SSS)

247wallst — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:17:41 +0000

Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) is seeing some pressure this morning after earnings. Interestingly enough, its smaller counterpart U-Store-It Trust (NYSE: YSI) rose a sharp 3.5% to $11.99 after its earnings.

As u-Store-It was already closer to lows, had seen more selling, is only a $693 million stock market cap, and is generally far less representative of the entire extra-storage space property sector… the sector is following the lead of Public Storage.

Public Storage posted funds from operations excluding items and excluding currency of $1.16, while estimates were $1.24. The company attributed a shortfall compared to estimates as being due to higher than expected domestic expenses. The company also showed a decrease in per square foot occupancy from 90.1% in Q1 2007 to 89.5%, although that was offset by a 3.8% increase in rent to $13.82 per annual square foot.

After looking over the books, the company is actually in great shape financially and it should have more than enough to keep repurchasing shares and to keep paying out its dividends. The bad news is that it is no longer believed to be cheap on an underlying real estate land-bank basis.

With a $14.9 Billion market cap after a 5% drop today to $87.14, this one looks fully valued based on the current valuations and based on the current economic climate. Its 52-week trading range is $65.66 to $98.01. Five years ago, this was trading at about $36.00 per share.

This is also weighing on a few related companies today. Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE: EXR) is seeing shares trade down over 1% at $16.74 and Sovran Self Storage Inc. (NYSE: SSS) is seeing shares down over 1% at $43.13.

Jon C. Ogg
May 9, 2008