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Public Storage (PSA) Q2 FFO Beats on Rent & Occupancy Gains

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Public Storage's (PSA - Free Report) second-quarter 2021 core funds from operations (FFO) per share of $3.15 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.93. The figure also increased 28% year on year.

Quarterly revenues of $829.3 million exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $801.6 million. Moreover, revenues increased 16.3% year on year.

Results reflect an improvement in realized annual rent per available square foot and weighted average square foot occupancy in the reported quarter. The company also benefited from its expansion efforts through acquisitions, development and extensions. Management has also raised the 2021 core FFO guidance.

Behind the Headlines

Public Storage’s same-store revenues increased 10.8% year over year to $680.8 million during the second quarter, highlighting higher realized annual rent per available square foot and weighted average square foot occupancy. This upswing was backed by an 11% increase in realized annual rental income per available square foot to $17.77. Also, weighted-average square foot occupancy of 97% expanded 3% year over year.

Same-store cost of operations fell 13.1% year over year, mainly reflecting a decrease in on-site property manager payroll, a decline in marketing expenses, and a change in property tax timing causing a decrease in property tax expense.

Consequently, the company’s same-store net operating income (NOI) increased 21.7% to $513.7 million. Also, the REIT’s NOI growth from non-same store facilities was $35.2 million, on the back of the facilities acquired in 2020 and 2021, as well as the fill-up of the recently-developed and expanded facilities.

Portfolio Activity

During the June-end quarter, Public Storage acquired 84 self-storage facilities, comprising 7.0 million net rentable square feet of area, for $2.3 billion. In April, the company completed the acquisition of the ezStorage portfolio, comprising 48 properties, for $1.8 billion. Following Jun 30, 2021, the company acquired or was under contract to acquire 36 self-storage facilities, spanning 3.0 million net rentable square feet of space across 15 states, for $466.6 million.

During the second quarter, the REIT opened two newly-developed facilities and several expansion projects costing $40.2 million. Finally, as of Jun 30, 2021, Public Storage had several facilities in development (1.9 million net rentable square feet), with an estimated cost of $308 million, as well as expansion projects (2.4 million net rentable square feet) worth $353 million. It expects to incur the remaining $411 million of development costs related to these projects, mainly over the next 18-24 months.

Balance Sheet Position

Public Storage exited second-quarter 2021 with $480.8 million of cash and equivalents, up from the $257.6 million recorded at the end of 2020.

Outlook

For 2021, the company raised the core FFO per share outlook to $11.90-$12.30 from the prior guidance of $11.35-$11.75. This is ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate for $11.87.

The company’s full-year assumption is backed by 7-8.5% growth in same-store revenues, a 0-1% rise in same-store expenses and a 9.4-11.9% expansion in same-store NOI. Further, the company expects $3.1 billion of acquisitions and $215 million of development openings.

Dividend Update

On Jul 28, the company’s board declared a regular quarterly dividend of $2 per common share. The dividend will be paid on Sep 30, to shareholders of record as of Sep 15, 2021.

Public Storage currently carries 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

Public Storage Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Public Storage price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Public Storage Quote

We now look forward to the earnings releases of other REITs, including Regency Centers Corporation (REG - Free Report) , Lamar Advertising Company (LAMR - Free Report) and Iron Mountain Incorporated (IRM - Free Report) , which are slated to release results on Aug 5.

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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