Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) Short Interest Down 13.7% in December

Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,270,000 shares, a decline of 13.7% from the December 15th total of 3,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 718,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Public Storage Stock Performance

Shares of PSA stock traded up $7.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $297.79. 388,588 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 689,069. Public Storage has a 12 month low of $256.31 and a 12 month high of $369.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $318.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $325.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.15 billion, a PE ratio of 30.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Public Storage Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Public Storage’s payout ratio is 124.61%.

Insider Transactions at Public Storage

In related news, insider Nathaniel A. Vitan sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.99, for a total value of $143,095.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,364 shares in the company, valued at $751,728.36. The trade was a 15.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Public Storage by 0.9% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,578 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Public Storage by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 160,997 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $46,311,000 after purchasing an additional 13,142 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Public Storage by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,956 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. One Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Public Storage in the 2nd quarter worth $895,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Public Storage by 41.8% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 134,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,631,000 after buying an additional 39,566 shares in the last quarter. 78.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PSA. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Public Storage from $293.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Public Storage from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $298.00 to $299.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Public Storage from $360.00 to $422.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Public Storage from $343.00 to $338.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Public Storage from $306.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $344.54.

Public Storage Company 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.