Public Storage (PSA) Q2 FFO Beats on Solid NOI, Revenues Up

Public Storage’s PSA second-quarter 2018 funds from operations (FFO) per share of $2.65 improved 14.7% from the prior-year quarter figure of $2.31. The figure also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.61.

Results highlight improvement in net operating income (NOI) from same-store and non-same store facilities. Higher realized annual rent per occupied square foot supported the company’s same-store performance. Additionally, Public Storage benefited from its expansion efforts.

Quarterly revenues of $685.5 million also climbed 3.2% from the prior-year quarter. However, the figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $689.0 million.

Behind the Headlines

Same-store revenues advanced 1.5% year over year to $558.7 million during the second quarter, while the company’s NOI inched up 1.2% to $407.8 million. The increase in same-store revenues was primarily driven by a 2.4% rise in realized annual rent per occupied square foot to $17.35. Nonetheless, the weighted-average square foot occupancy of 94.0% contracted 60 basis points year over year.

In addition, the company’s NOI from non-same store facilities grew on the back of the 137 self-storage facilities acquired and developed since January 2016.

Portfolio Activity

In the June-end quarter, Public Storage bought three self-storage facilities, comprising 0.2 million net rentable square feet of area, for $16 million. Following Jun 30, 2018, the company acquired or was under contract to acquire 14 self-storage facilities, spanning 0.8 million net rentable square feet of space, for $95.2 million.

Finally, as of Jun 30, 2018, the company had several facilities in development (2.2 million net rentable square feet), with an estimated cost of $315 million, as well as expansion projects (3.9 million net rentable square feet) worth roughly $364 million. Public Storage estimates to incur the remaining $445 million of development costs related to these projects mainly over the next 18 months.

Liquidity

Public Storage exited second-quarter 2018 with around $338.4 million of cash and cash equivalents, down from $433.4 million recorded at the end of the previous year.

Dividend

On Jul 25, Public Storage’s board of trustees announced a regular quarterly dividend of $2.00 per share. The amount will be paid on Sep 27 to shareholders of record as of Sep 12, 2018.

Shurgard Europe Update

Shurgard Europe is considering an initial public offering and in July, Public Storage received a cash distribution of $145.4 million from the former. This denotes the company’s 49% share of an aggregate dividend of $296.8 million.

In Conclusion

Public Storage is a recognized and established name in the self-storage industry in the United States. Furthermore, a solid balance sheet has enabled the company to pay sustainable dividends. Also, it is benefiting from strong industry fundamentals and favorable demographics in its markets. Amid these, the company’s acquisition and expansion efforts look promising.

Nevertheless, supply has been rising in a number of its markets. This limits its power to raise rents and turn on more discounting. Additionally, rate hike remains another concern.

Public Storage currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Public Storage Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

We, now, look forward to the earnings releases of Lamar Advertising Company LAMR, Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. HST and Outfront Media Inc. OUT, all of which are scheduled to report their quarterly numbers next week.

Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represent funds from operations (FFO) — a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.

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