Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 2,047,400 Shares of Smartstop Self Storage REIT Inc $SMA

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group purchased 2,047,400 shares in Q4—boosting its SmartStop holding to 2,067,159 shares (a 10,361.9% increase) and a 3.73% stake worth about $63.96 million.
• SmartStop beat Q1 estimates with EPS $0.49 vs. $0.48 and revenue $78.31M (up ~19.7% YoY), and set FY‑2026 FFO guidance of $1.94–$2.04, roughly in line with consensus.
• The REIT raised its monthly dividend to $0.1359 (annualized yield ~4.9%) and shows strong liquidity (quick/current ratio ~5.87), but management narrowed same‑store revenue guidance to -0.25%–1.75%, signaling potential near‑term softness.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Smartstop Self Storage REIT Inc (NYSE:SMA - Free Report) by 10,361.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,067,159 shares of the healthcare company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,047,400 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 3.73% of Smartstop Self Storage REIT worth $63,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Smartstop Self Storage REIT by 122.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,576,922 shares of the healthcare company's stock worth $110,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,967,321 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Smartstop Self Storage REIT by 24.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,196,065 shares of the healthcare company's stock valued at $45,020,000 after buying an additional 233,313 shares in the last quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Smartstop Self Storage REIT by 24.5% in the third quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP now owns 1,181,767 shares of the healthcare company's stock valued at $44,393,000 after buying an additional 232,466 shares during the period. Conversant Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Smartstop Self Storage REIT during the second quarter worth approximately $36,098,000. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in Smartstop Self Storage REIT by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 966,936 shares of the healthcare company's stock worth $29,917,000 after buying an additional 149,391 shares in the last quarter.

Smartstop Self Storage REIT Price Performance

Shares of SMA stock opened at $33.39 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.53. The company has a market cap of $1.85 billion and a P/E ratio of 222.63. The company has a quick ratio of 5.87, a current ratio of 5.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Smartstop Self Storage REIT Inc has a twelve month low of $29.42 and a twelve month high of $39.77.

Smartstop Self Storage REIT (NYSE:SMA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The healthcare company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $78.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $72.56 million. Smartstop Self Storage REIT had a return on equity of 1.00% and a net margin of 4.38%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. Smartstop Self Storage REIT has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.940-2.040 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Smartstop Self Storage REIT Inc will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smartstop Self Storage REIT Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.1359 per share. This is a boost from Smartstop Self Storage REIT's previous monthly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Smartstop Self Storage REIT's payout ratio is presently -427.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Smartstop Self Storage REIT from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Smartstop Self Storage REIT from $39.50 to $38.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Smartstop Self Storage REIT from $33.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research cut shares of Smartstop Self Storage REIT from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Smartstop Self Storage REIT to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.94.

Key Headlines Impacting Smartstop Self Storage REIT

Here are the key news stories impacting Smartstop Self Storage REIT this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat on top and bottom lines: revenue $78.31M (vs. ~$72.6M est.), EPS $0.49 vs. $0.48 est.; revenue grew ~19.7% YoY — investors lifted by clear growth and an earnings beat. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Healthy liquidity and manageable leverage — company-level metrics (quick/current ratio ~5.87, debt/equity ~0.86) suggest capacity to fund operations and acquisitions without immediate refinancing stress, a positive for REIT stability.
• Neutral Sentiment: FY FFO (as adjusted) guidance of $1.94–$2.04 per share is essentially in line with consensus (~$2.00), so guidance neither materially upgrades nor downgrades expectations. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings-call transcripts provided operational color (pricing/occupancy trends, cost items) that helped investors interpret the quarter; read management remarks for forward momentum signals. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Management narrowed 2026 same‑store revenue guidance to a range that spans a slight decline to modest growth (-0.25% to 1.75%), signaling potential near‑term softness in core storage demand/pricing — a key watch item. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Company still shows a small negative net margin and negative return on equity in GAAP metrics; market values SMA on FFO not GAAP earnings, so any continued pressure on operating margins or occupancy could compress multiples.

Smartstop Self Storage REIT Profile

Symmetry Medical Inc (Symmetry) is a medical device solutions company, including surgical instruments, orthopedic implants, and sterilization cases and trays. The Company designs, develops and offers worldwide production and supply chain capabilities for these products to customers in the orthopedic industry, and other medical device markets (including but not limited to arthroscopy, dental, laparoscopy, osteobiologic, and endoscopy segments). It also manufactures specialized non-healthcare products, primarily in the aerospace industry.

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