Short Interest in Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) Drops By 13.7%

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

Public Storage Stock Up 2.5 %

PSA opened at $297.79 on Friday. Public Storage has a 1-year low of $256.31 and a 1-year high of $369.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50 day moving average of $318.53 and a 200-day moving average of $325.45.

Public Storage Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. Public Storage’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 124.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on PSA. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Public Storage from $343.00 to $338.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Public Storage from $306.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays decreased their target price on Public Storage from $380.00 to $361.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Public Storage from $375.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Public Storage from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $298.00 to $299.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $344.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nathaniel A. Vitan sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.99, for a total value of $143,095.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $751,728.36. This represents a 15.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 11.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Public Storage by 1.9% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 142,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $51,762,000 after purchasing an additional 2,605 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in Public Storage by 114.2% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 91,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,302,000 after purchasing an additional 48,803 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Public Storage by 3,714.6% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 1,783 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Public Storage by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,608 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,566,000 after purchasing an additional 5,793 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Public Storage by 4.1% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 72,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,468,000 after purchasing an additional 2,832 shares during the period. 78.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.