Head-To-Head Review: Global Self Storage (NASDAQ:SELF) versus SL Green Realty (NYSE:SLG)

Global Self Storage (NASDAQ:SELF) and SL Green Realty (NYSE:SLG) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Dividends

Global Self Storage pays an annual dividend of $0.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.7%. SL Green Realty pays an annual dividend of $3.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.1%. Global Self Storage pays out 181.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. SL Green Realty pays out -191.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SL Green Realty has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. SL Green Realty is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Global Self Storage and SL Green Realty’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Global Self Storage	14.13%	3.81%	2.76%
SL Green Realty	-9.66%	-2.44%	-0.86%

Volatility & Risk

Global Self Storage has a beta of 0.01, indicating that its stock price is 99% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SL Green Realty has a beta of 1.63, indicating that its stock price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Global Self Storage and SL Green Realty, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Global Self Storage	0	1	0	0	2.00
SL Green Realty	3	9	7	0	2.21

SL Green Realty has a consensus price target of $54.30, suggesting a potential upside of 24.00%. Given SL Green Realty’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe SL Green Realty is more favorable than Global Self Storage.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

28.9% of Global Self Storage shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.0% of SL Green Realty shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.0% of Global Self Storage shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.0% of SL Green Realty shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Global Self Storage and SL Green Realty”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Global Self Storage	$12.53 million	4.59	$2.12 million	$0.16	31.69
SL Green Realty	$1.00 billion	3.11	-$88.28 million	($1.61)	-27.20

Global Self Storage has higher earnings, but lower revenue than SL Green Realty. SL Green Realty is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Global Self Storage, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

SL Green Realty beats Global Self Storage on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Global Self Storage

Global Self Storage is a self-administered and self-managed REIT that owns, operates, manages, acquires, and redevelops self-storage properties. The company's self-storage properties are designed to offer affordable, easily accessible and secure storage space for residential and commercial customers. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, the company owns and/or manages 13 self-storage properties in Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Oklahoma.

About SL Green Realty

3SL Green Realty Corp., Manhattan’s largest office landlord, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust, or REIT, that is focused primarily on acquiring, managing and maximizing value of Manhattan commercial properties. As of June 30, 2022, SL Green held interests in 64 buildings totaling 34.4 million square feet. This included ownership interests in 26.3 million square feet of Manhattan buildings and 7.2 million square feet securing debt and preferred equity investments.