Contrasting Global Self Storage (NASDAQ:SELF) & Safehold (NYSE:SAFE)

Global Self Storage (NASDAQ:SELF) and Safehold (NYSE:SAFE) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

Global Self Storage pays an annual dividend of $0.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.7%. Safehold pays an annual dividend of $0.71 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Global Self Storage pays out 107.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Safehold pays out 48.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

28.9% of Global Self Storage shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.4% of Safehold shares are held by institutional investors. 8.0% of Global Self Storage shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Safehold shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Global Self Storage and Safehold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Global Self Storage	25.47%	6.55%	4.73%
Safehold	28.92%	4.76%	1.65%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Global Self Storage and Safehold”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Global Self Storage	$12.19 million	4.74	$2.94 million	$0.27	19.00
Safehold	$365.68 million	3.28	$105.76 million	$1.48	11.36

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Global Self Storage and Safehold, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Global Self Storage	0	0	1	0	3.00
Safehold	0	5	4	0	2.44

Global Self Storage presently has a consensus price target of $6.50, indicating a potential upside of 26.71%. Safehold has a consensus price target of $25.56, indicating a potential upside of 52.03%. Given Safehold’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Safehold is more favorable than Global Self Storage.

Volatility & Risk

Global Self Storage has a beta of 0.24, indicating that its stock price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Safehold has a beta of 1.66, indicating that its stock price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Safehold beats Global Self Storage on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Global Self Storage

Global Self Storage is a self-administered and self-managed REIT that owns, operates, manages, acquires, and redevelops self-storage properties. The company's self-storage properties are designed to offer affordable, easily accessible and secure storage space for residential and commercial customers. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, the company owns and/or manages 13 self-storage properties in Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Oklahoma.

About Safehold

Safehold Inc. (NYSE: SAFE) is revolutionizing real estate ownership by providing a new and better way for owners to unlock the value of the land beneath their buildings. Having created the modern ground lease industry in 2017, Safehold continues to help owners of high quality multifamily, office, industrial, hospitality, student housing, life science and mixed-use properties generate higher returns with less risk. The Company, which is taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT), seeks to deliver safe, growing income and long-term capital appreciation to its shareholders.