Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) and Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) Head-To-Head Survey

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) and Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Lamar Advertising and Public Storage”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lamar Advertising	$2.27 billion	6.24	$587.15 million	$5.77	24.18
Public Storage	$4.86 billion	10.68	$1.78 billion	$9.69	30.50

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

Dividends

Lamar Advertising pays an annual dividend of $6.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Public Storage pays an annual dividend of $12.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Lamar Advertising pays out 110.9% 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 pays out 123.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Lamar Advertising has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Lamar Advertising is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility & Risk

Lamar Advertising has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Public Storage has a beta of 1, indicating that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Lamar Advertising and Public Storage’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lamar Advertising	25.91%	58.58%	8.70%
Public Storage	39.16%	37.78%	9.43%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.8% of Lamar Advertising shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.8% of Public Storage shares are owned by institutional investors. 15.2% of Lamar Advertising shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 11.1% of Public Storage shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Lamar Advertising and Public Storage, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lamar Advertising	0	3	3	0	2.50
Public Storage	0	12	6	2	2.50

Lamar Advertising currently has a consensus price target of $139.80, indicating a potential upside of 0.19%. Public Storage has a consensus price target of $308.83, indicating a potential upside of 4.50%. Given Public Storage’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Public Storage is more favorable than Lamar Advertising.

Summary

Public Storage beats Lamar Advertising on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lamar Advertising

Lamar Advertising Company operates as an outdoor advertising company in the United States and Canada. The company owns and operates billboards, logo signs, and transit advertising displays, as well as rents space for advertising on billboards, buses, shelters, benches, logo plates, and in airport terminals. Lamar Advertising Company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

About Public Storage

Public Storage, a member of the S&P 500 and FT Global 500, is a REIT that primarily acquires, develops, owns, and operates self-storage facilities. At December 31, 2023, we had: (i) interests in 3,044 self-storage facilities located in 40 states with approximately 218 million net rentable square feet in the United States and (ii) a 35% common equity interest in Shurgard Self Storage Limited (Euronext Brussels: SHUR), which owned 275 self-storage facilities located in seven Western European nations with approximately 15 million net rentable square feet operated under the Shurgard brand. Our headquarters are located in Glendale, California.