#7 - Extra Space Storage (NYSE:EXR)
The last stock on this list is Extra Space Storage, Inc. (NYSE: EXR). The company operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) and has been recognized as a best-in-class company and a technology leader withing the sector.
Extra Space Storage is the second-largest owner and operator of self-storage properties in the United States. The company runs over 2,000 self-storage properties which accounts for about 164 million square feet of rentable storage space throughout the United States.
Storage units aren’t the sexiest business, but they’re reliable generators of revenue no matter what’s happening in the economy. That’s evident in the fact that the percentage of U.S. households using public storage as a percentage of overall households has more than doubled since the year 2000.
And with a profit margin of around 50% as of this writing, there’s ample room for the company to return some cash to shareholders. In fact, one of the benefits to investing in a REIT is that the business model requires them to return at least 90% of their earnings to shareholders in the form of a dividend.
About Extra Space Storage
Extra Space Storage Inc, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a self-administered and self-managed REIT and a member of the S&P 500. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned and/or operated 3,714 self-storage stores in 42 states and Washington, DC The Company's stores comprise approximately 2.6 million units and approximately 283.0 million square feet of rentable space operating under the Extra Space, Life Storage and Storage Express brands.
Read More - Current Price
- $163.45
- Consensus Rating
- Hold
- Ratings Breakdown
- 5 Buy Ratings, 7 Hold Ratings, 2 Sell Ratings.
- Consensus Price Target
- $171.50 (4.9% Upside)
Rising interest rates are usually an early predictor of a bear market and/or a recession. During these times, it can be tempting to avoid stocks. It's never enjoyable to see our portfolio drop without knowing when, or if, it will ever get back to where it was.
But it's during those times when you can look at history as a guide. When it comes to the stock market, history is undefeated. Markets have an upward bias. And when you consider that markets are always forward looking, stocks will tend to climb when the economy still appears to be stalled out.
However, if picking individual stocks in a rising interest rate environment feels like a daunting task, you can still maintain exposure to equities with a passive investment strategy. This can include owning exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These allow you to get exposure to a basket of stocks that provide instant diversification. To minimize your risk even more, you can choose to invest in an index fund that tracks a specific part of the market (e.g., the S&P 500).
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