Financial Contrast: Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) versus Howard Hughes (NYSE:HHH)

Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) and Howard Hughes (NYSE:HHH) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

Public Storage has a beta of 0.7, indicating that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Howard Hughes has a beta of 1.46, indicating that its share price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

78.8% of Public Storage shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.8% of Howard Hughes shares are owned by institutional investors. 11.0% of Public Storage shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 33.0% of Howard Hughes shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Public Storage and Howard Hughes”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Public Storage	$4.68 billion	12.46	$2.15 billion	$9.63	34.56
Howard Hughes	$1.02 billion	3.90	-$550.95 million	$1.51	52.81

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Public Storage and Howard Hughes, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Public Storage	1	6	6	2	2.60
Howard Hughes	0	0	2	0	3.00

Public Storage presently has a consensus target price of $339.64, suggesting a potential upside of 2.04%. Howard Hughes has a consensus target price of $82.00, suggesting a potential upside of 2.83%. Given Howard Hughes’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Howard Hughes is more favorable than Public Storage.

Profitability

This table compares Public Storage and Howard Hughes’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Public Storage	40.54%	34.07%	9.60%
Howard Hughes	6.57%	3.38%	1.03%

Summary

Public Storage beats Howard Hughes on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Howard Hughes

Howard Hughes Holdings Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate development company in the United States. It operates in four segments: Operating Assets; Master Planned Communities (MPCs); Seaport; and Strategic Developments. The Operating Assets segment consists of developed or acquired retail, office, and multi-family properties along with other retail investments. Its MPCs segment develops, sells, and leases residential and commercial land designated for long-term community development projects in and around Las Vegas, Nevada; Houston, Texas; and Phoenix, Arizona. The Seaport segment is involved in the landlord operations, managed businesses, and events and sponsorships services of its restaurant, retail, and entertain properties in Pier 17, New York City; Historic Area/Uplands; and Tin Building, as well as in 250 Water Street and in the Jean-Georges restaurants. The Strategic Development segment develops and redevelops residential condominiums and commercial properties. It serves homebuilders. Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.