Critical Contrast: Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) versus National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE:NSA)

National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE:NSA) and Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) are both real estate companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

100.0% of National Storage Affiliates Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.7% of Digital Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.7% of National Storage Affiliates Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Digital Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares National Storage Affiliates Trust and Digital Realty Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Storage Affiliates Trust	$752.93 million	4.45	$73.78 million	$0.75	57.88
Digital Realty Trust	$6.77 billion	10.61	$1.31 billion	$2.06	94.29

Digital Realty Trust has higher revenue and earnings than National Storage Affiliates Trust. National Storage Affiliates Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Digital Realty Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares National Storage Affiliates Trust and Digital Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Storage Affiliates Trust	10.48%	6.46%	1.54%
Digital Realty Trust	11.80%	3.34%	1.59%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for National Storage Affiliates Trust and Digital Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Storage Affiliates Trust	2	11	0	0	1.85
Digital Realty Trust	0	6	25	1	2.84

National Storage Affiliates Trust currently has a consensus price target of $39.06, indicating a potential downside of 10.02%. Digital Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $219.45, indicating a potential upside of 12.99%. Given Digital Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Digital Realty Trust is more favorable than National Storage Affiliates Trust.

Dividends

National Storage Affiliates Trust pays an annual dividend of $2.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Digital Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $4.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. National Storage Affiliates Trust pays out 304.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Digital Realty Trust pays out 236.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. National Storage Affiliates Trust has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. National Storage Affiliates Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk & Volatility

National Storage Affiliates Trust has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Digital Realty Trust has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Digital Realty Trust beats National Storage Affiliates Trust on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About National Storage Affiliates Trust

National Storage Affiliates Trust is a real estate investment trust headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado, focused on the ownership, operation and acquisition of self storage properties predominantly located within the top 100 metropolitan statistical areas throughout the United States. As of December 31, 2023, the Company held ownership interests in and operated 1,050 self storage properties, located in 42 states and Puerto Rico with approximately 68.6 million rentable square feet, which excludes 39 self storage properties classified as held for sale to be sold to a third party. NSA is one of the largest owners and operators of self storage properties among public and private companies in the United States.

About Digital Realty Trust

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. operates as a real estate investment trust, which engages in the provision of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions. It serves the following industries: artificial intelligence (AI), networks, cloud, digital media, mobile, financial services, healthcare, and gaming. The company was founded on March 9, 2004, and is headquartered in Dallas, TX.