Critical Analysis: Smartstop Self Storage REIT (SMA) and Its Competitors

Smartstop Self Storage REIT (NYSE:SMA) is one of 110 public companies in the “REIT – EQTY TRUST – OTHER” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Smartstop Self Storage REIT to similar companies based on the strength of its earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Smartstop Self Storage REIT and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smartstop Self Storage REIT	-0.59%	-0.16%	-0.07%
Smartstop Self Storage REIT Competitors	0.38%	1.36%	0.83%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Smartstop Self Storage REIT and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smartstop Self Storage REIT	$281.14 million	-$1.55 million	-85.88
Smartstop Self Storage REIT Competitors	$1.56 billion	$214.07 million	30.37

Smartstop Self Storage REIT’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Smartstop Self Storage REIT. Smartstop Self Storage REIT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Smartstop Self Storage REIT and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smartstop Self Storage REIT	3	1	6	2	2.58
Smartstop Self Storage REIT Competitors	2376	8006	8373	296	2.35

Smartstop Self Storage REIT presently has a consensus target price of $37.55, indicating a potential upside of 18.17%. As a group, “REIT – EQTY TRUST – OTHER” companies have a potential upside of 7.46%. Given Smartstop Self Storage REIT’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Smartstop Self Storage REIT is more favorable than its peers.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

76.0% of shares of all “REIT – EQTY TRUST – OTHER” companies are held by institutional investors. 5.5% of Smartstop Self Storage REIT shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.1% of shares of all “REIT – EQTY TRUST – OTHER” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Smartstop Self Storage REIT pays an annual dividend of $1.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. Smartstop Self Storage REIT pays out -440.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “REIT – EQTY TRUST – OTHER” companies pay a dividend yield of 4.6% and pay out 448.0% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Smartstop Self Storage REIT is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Smartstop Self Storage REIT peers beat Smartstop Self Storage REIT on 8 of the 14 factors compared.

Smartstop Self Storage REIT Company Profile

Symmetry Medical Inc. (Symmetry) is a medical device solutions company, including surgical instruments, orthopedic implants, and sterilization cases and trays. The Company designs, develops and offers worldwide production and supply chain capabilities for these products to customers in the orthopedic industry, and other medical device markets (including but not limited to arthroscopy, dental, laparoscopy, osteobiologic, and endoscopy segments). It also manufactures specialized non-healthcare products, primarily in the aerospace industry. The Company operates in two segments: original equipment manufacturer (OEM) solutions and symmetry surgical. On August 15, 2011, the Company acquired PSC Industries, Inc’s Olsen Medical division. On December 29, 2011 it acquired the surgical instruments product portfolio from Codman & Shurtleff, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson Company.