Public Storage (PSA) Competitors

Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) and American Tower (NYSE:AMT) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, media sentiment, community ranking, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation and profitability.

Does the media favor PSA or AMT?

In the previous week, American Tower had 13 more articles in the media than Public Storage. MarketBeat recorded 27 mentions for American Tower and 14 mentions for Public Storage. Public Storage's average media sentiment score of 0.73 beat American Tower's score of 0.72 indicating that Public Storage is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Public Storage	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
American Tower	15 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is PSA or AMT more profitable?

Public Storage has a net margin of 40.54% compared to American Tower's net margin of 10.05%. Public Storage's return on equity of 34.07% beat American Tower's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Public Storage	40.54%	34.07%	9.60%
American Tower	10.05%	22.01%	3.55%

Which has higher valuation and earnings, PSA or AMT?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Public Storage	$4.52B	11.48	$2.15B	$9.63	30.76
American Tower	$11.17B	7.97	$1.48B	$2.37	80.39

Which has more risk and volatility, PSA or AMT?

Public Storage has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Tower has a beta of 0.84, meaning that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend PSA or AMT?

Public Storage presently has a consensus target price of $344.54, suggesting a potential upside of 16.30%. American Tower has a consensus target price of $230.67, suggesting a potential upside of 21.08%. Given American Tower's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe American Tower is more favorable than Public Storage.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Public Storage	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64
American Tower	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer PSA or AMT?

American Tower received 548 more outperform votes than Public Storage when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 75.13% of users gave American Tower an outperform vote while only 51.18% of users gave Public Storage an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Public Storage	Outperform Votes 455 51.18%	Underperform Votes 434 48.82%
American Tower	Outperform Votes 1003 75.13%	Underperform Votes 332 24.87%

Is PSA or AMT a better dividend stock?

Public Storage pays an annual dividend of $12.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. American Tower pays an annual dividend of $6.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. 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. American Tower pays out 273.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Public Storage is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in PSA or AMT?

78.8% of Public Storage shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of American Tower shares are held by institutional investors. 11.1% of Public Storage shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of American Tower shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Public Storage beats American Tower on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.