Ethic Inc. Increases Stock Position in Public Storage (NYSE:PSA)

Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Public Storage (NYSE:PSA - Free Report) by 21.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,093 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 2,618 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Public Storage were worth $4,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its position in Public Storage by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 5,433,001 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,626,731,000 after acquiring an additional 592,944 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Public Storage by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,010,044 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,197,769,000 after purchasing an additional 78,472 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Public Storage in the 4th quarter valued at about $931,286,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Public Storage by 43.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,476,596 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $741,592,000 after purchasing an additional 749,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Public Storage by 44.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,407,754 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $421,538,000 after purchasing an additional 433,918 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PSA. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Public Storage from $297.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Public Storage from $368.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Public Storage from $365.00 to $330.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Public Storage in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $287.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of Public Storage from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $337.42.

Public Storage Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PSA traded up $2.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $307.50. The stock had a trading volume of 212,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 743,199. The company has a market capitalization of $53.95 billion, a PE ratio of 31.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $293.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $305.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. Public Storage has a 1 year low of $256.60 and a 1 year high of $369.99.

Public Storage (NYSE:PSA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Public Storage had a net margin of 40.54% and a return on equity of 34.07%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Public Storage will post 16.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Public Storage Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 12th. Public Storage's dividend payout ratio is currently 119.17%.

Public Storage 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.