Analyzing COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) & Global Self Storage (NASDAQ:SELF)

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) and Global Self Storage (NASDAQ:SELF) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for COPT Defense Properties and Global Self Storage, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
COPT Defense Properties	0	3	5	0	2.63
Global Self Storage	0	1	0	0	2.00

COPT Defense Properties currently has a consensus target price of $33.88, indicating a potential upside of 4.21%. Given COPT Defense Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe COPT Defense Properties is more favorable than Global Self Storage.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares COPT Defense Properties and Global Self Storage”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
COPT Defense Properties	$763.92 million	4.82	$152.32 million	$1.35	24.08
Global Self Storage	$12.71 million	4.76	$2.04 million	$0.18	29.62

COPT Defense Properties has higher revenue and earnings than Global Self Storage. COPT Defense Properties 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.

Profitability

This table compares COPT Defense Properties and Global Self Storage’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
COPT Defense Properties	19.94%	9.82%	3.46%
Global Self Storage	16.04%	4.34%	3.15%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

28.9% of Global Self Storage shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of COPT Defense Properties shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.0% of Global Self Storage shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

COPT Defense Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Global Self Storage pays an annual dividend of $0.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. COPT Defense Properties pays out 94.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Global Self Storage pays out 161.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Risk and Volatility

COPT Defense Properties has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Global Self Storage has a beta of -0.03, suggesting that its share price is 103% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

COPT Defense Properties beats Global Self Storage on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About COPT Defense Properties

COPT Defense Properties is a real estate investment trust. It acquires, develops, manages, sells, and leases out office properties and data centers. The firm operates through the following segments: Defense/Information Technology Locations, Regional Office, Wholesale Data Center, and Other. The company was founded on January 22,1988 and is headquartered in Columbia, MD.

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.