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

Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) saw a significant decline in short interest in 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 trading volume, of 718,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.6 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Public Storage Stock Performance

Shares of Public Storage stock traded down $1.45 on Friday, reaching $296.25. 587,329 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 651,906. Public Storage has a 1-year low of $256.31 and a 1-year high of $369.99. The firm has a market cap of $51.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76, a P/E/G 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. The company’s 50-day moving average is $316.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $325.35.

Public Storage Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Public Storage’s payout ratio is 124.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Public Storage news, insider Nathaniel A. Vitan sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.99, for a total transaction of $143,095.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,364 shares in the company, valued at $751,728.36. The trade was a 15.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Public Storage

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PSA. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Public Storage in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Public Storage during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of Public Storage during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Public Storage in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in Public Storage by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 206 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PSA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on Public Storage from $306.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Public Storage from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $298.00 to $299.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI cut 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 report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Public Storage from $293.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Public Storage from $380.00 to $361.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Public Storage has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $344.54.

About Public Storage

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.