Head-To-Head Contrast: Global Net Lease (NYSE:GNL) versus Public Storage (NYSE:PSA)

Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) and Global Net Lease (NYSE:GNL) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

Public Storage has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Global Net Lease has a beta of 1.34, meaning that its share price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Public Storage and Global Net Lease”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Public Storage	$4.68 billion	10.80	$2.15 billion	$9.63	29.97
Global Net Lease	$812.62 million	2.03	-$211.91 million	($0.94)	-7.60

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Public Storage and Global Net Lease, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Public Storage	0	7	5	2	2.64
Global Net Lease	0	2	3	1	2.83

Public Storage presently has a consensus target price of $346.00, suggesting a potential upside of 19.87%. Global Net Lease has a consensus target price of $9.50, suggesting a potential upside of 33.05%. Given Global Net Lease’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Global Net Lease is more favorable than Public Storage.

Dividends

Public Storage pays an annual dividend of $12.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Global Net Lease pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 15.4%. Public Storage pays out 124.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Global Net Lease pays out -117.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Global Net Lease is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

78.8% of Public Storage shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.2% of Global Net Lease shares are held by institutional investors. 11.0% of Public Storage shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Global Net Lease shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Public Storage and Global Net Lease’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Public Storage	40.54%	34.07%	9.60%
Global Net Lease	-21.37%	-7.04%	-2.24%

Summary

Public Storage beats Global Net Lease on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. Our headquarters are located in Glendale, California.

About Global Net Lease

Global Net Lease, Inc. (NYSE: GNL) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust listed on the NYSE. The firm focused on acquiring a diversified global portfolio of commercial properties, with an emphasis on sale-leaseback transactions involving single tenant, mission critical income producing net-leased assets across the United States, Western and Northern Europe.