Heartland Advisors Inc. Trims Position in National Storage Affiliates Trust $NSA

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors reduced its stake in National Storage Affiliates Trust by 25.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 164,075 shares and leaving it with 482,125 shares valued at about $13.6 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the stock has mostly Hold ratings, one Sell, and a consensus recommendation of Reduce with an average price target of $35.97, though several firms recently lifted their targets into the low $40s.
• NSA reported Q1 earnings of $0.16 per share, well below expectations of $0.54, even as revenue came in slightly above estimates; the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share, implying a 5.0% annual yield.

Heartland Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE:NSA - Free Report) by 25.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 482,125 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 164,075 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned 0.63% of National Storage Affiliates Trust worth $13,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NSA. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of National Storage Affiliates Trust during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of National Storage Affiliates Trust by 81.8% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,302 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of National Storage Affiliates Trust by 42.5% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,421 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of National Storage Affiliates Trust by 247.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,828 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,302 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC increased its position in shares of National Storage Affiliates Trust by 37.6% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the period. 99.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on National Storage Affiliates Trust from $33.50 to $43.62 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on National Storage Affiliates Trust from $29.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen cut National Storage Affiliates Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded National Storage Affiliates Trust from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Evercore upgraded National Storage Affiliates Trust from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $35.97.

National Storage Affiliates Trust Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE NSA opened at $45.50 on Thursday. National Storage Affiliates Trust has a 1-year low of $27.43 and a 1-year high of $46.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.20 and a 200-day moving average of $35.68. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 60.67 and a beta of 1.05.

National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE:NSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.38). National Storage Affiliates Trust had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 6.46%. The company had revenue of $185.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.69 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The company's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that National Storage Affiliates Trust will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

National Storage Affiliates Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. National Storage Affiliates Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 304.00%.

National Storage Affiliates Trust Profile

National Storage Affiliates Trust is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on the ownership and operation of self-storage properties in the United States. Since its initial public offering in August 2015, NSA has pursued a growth strategy built on strategic acquisitions and partnerships, establishing a diversified portfolio of assets backed by a centralized support platform. The Trust’s model combines the scalability of a national REIT with the local expertise of affiliate operators.

The company’s core business involves providing flexible storage solutions to both individual and commercial customers.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.