HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN RIGHT OF THE PROVINCE OF ALBERTA AS REPRESENTED BY ALBERTA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CORP INCREASES POSITION IN PUBLIC STORAGE (PSA)

Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of Alberta as represented by Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) by 238.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 65,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 46,100 shares during the period. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of Alberta as represented by Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Public Storage were worth $14,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PSA. First Business Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Public Storage during the third quarter valued at about $491,000. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Public Storage by 1.2% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 66,655 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,873,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. BB&T Corp raised its position in shares of Public Storage by 7.1% in the third quarter. BB&T Corp now owns 932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its position in shares of Public Storage by 7.1% in the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 5,832 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the period. Finally, NEXT Financial Group Inc raised its position in shares of Public Storage by 92.7% in the third quarter. NEXT Financial Group Inc now owns 1,648 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the period. 77.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) opened at 204.61 on Friday. Public Storage has a 12-month low of $200.65 and a 12-month high of $277.60. The company has a market capitalization of $35.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $212.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $234.01.

Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, hitting the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $2.51. The firm had revenue of $663.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $624.13 million. Public Storage had a return on equity of 26.05% and a net margin of 52.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.33 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Public Storage will post $9.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 14th will be issued a dividend of $2.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 12th. This is an increase from Public Storage’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. Public Storage’s payout ratio is presently 110.43%.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PSA. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price target (down previously from $284.00) on shares of Public Storage in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays PLC reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Public Storage in a report on Tuesday, November 8th. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. upgraded Public Storage from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $210.00 to $220.00 in a report on Monday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Public Storage in a report on Thursday, October 27th. Finally, FBR & Co dropped their price objective on Public Storage from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $241.03.

In other Public Storage news, insider John Reyes sold 30,000 shares of Public Storage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.41, for a total transaction of $6,462,300.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Tamara Hughes Gustavson bought 69,763 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $214.98 per share, for a total transaction of $14,997,649.74. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 16,396,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,524,908,606.02. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 14.20% of the company’s stock.