Public Storage (PSA) Competitors

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) and Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, media sentiment, valuation and institutional ownership.

Is AMT or PSA a better dividend stock?

American Tower pays an annual dividend of $6.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Public Storage pays an annual dividend of $12.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. American Tower pays out 174.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Public Storage pays out 119.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. American Tower has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Public Storage is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more risk & volatility, AMT or PSA?

American Tower has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Public Storage has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AMT or PSA more profitable?

Public Storage has a net margin of 41.74% compared to American Tower's net margin of 17.34%. Public Storage's return on equity of 36.50% beat American Tower's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Tower	17.34%	30.20%	4.82%
Public Storage	41.74%	36.50%	9.98%

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, AMT or PSA?

American Tower has higher revenue and earnings than Public Storage. Public Storage is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Tower, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Tower	$10.13B	10.21	$2.26B	$3.89	56.80
Public Storage	$4.70B	10.98	$2.07B	$10.07	29.17

Does the media prefer AMT or PSA?

In the previous week, American Tower had 21 more articles in the media than Public Storage. MarketBeat recorded 49 mentions for American Tower and 28 mentions for Public Storage. American Tower's average media sentiment score of 1.45 beat Public Storage's score of 0.91 indicating that American Tower is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
American Tower	42 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Public Storage	14 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend AMT or PSA?

American Tower presently has a consensus target price of $240.25, suggesting a potential upside of 8.74%. Public Storage has a consensus target price of $337.64, suggesting a potential upside of 14.93%. Given Public Storage's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Public Storage is more favorable than American Tower.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Tower	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.11
Public Storage	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in AMT or PSA?

92.7% of American Tower shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.8% of Public Storage shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of American Tower shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.1% of Public Storage shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

American Tower and Public Storage tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.