Financial Analysis: Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) versus National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE:NSA)

National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE:NSA) and Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and earnings.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Storage Affiliates Trust	8.94%	5.09%	1.29%
Uniti Group	97.46%	-2.52%	0.59%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares National Storage Affiliates Trust and Uniti Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Storage Affiliates Trust	$770.34 million	3.26	$111.52 million	$0.61	53.57
Uniti Group	$1.61 billion	0.74	$93.41 million	$5.11	1.58

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

Dividends

National Storage Affiliates Trust pays an annual dividend of $2.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.0%. Uniti Group pays an annual dividend of $0.45 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. National Storage Affiliates Trust pays out 373.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Uniti Group pays out 8.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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.

Volatility & Risk

National Storage Affiliates Trust has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Uniti Group has a beta of 1.47, meaning that its share price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

100.0% of National Storage Affiliates Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.5% of Uniti Group shares are held by institutional investors. 13.7% of National Storage Affiliates Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Uniti Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for National Storage Affiliates Trust and Uniti Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Storage Affiliates Trust	3	10	0	0	1.77
Uniti Group	0	5	1	1	2.43

National Storage Affiliates Trust presently has a consensus target price of $32.30, suggesting a potential downside of 1.16%. Uniti Group has a consensus target price of $7.06, suggesting a potential downside of 12.30%. Given National Storage Affiliates Trust’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe National Storage Affiliates Trust is more favorable than Uniti Group.

Summary

National Storage Affiliates Trust beats Uniti Group on 10 of the 18 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 Uniti Group

Uniti Group, Inc. is a real estate investment trust company, which engages in the acquisition, construction, and leasing of properties. It operates through the following business segments: Uniti Leasing, Uniti Fiber, and Corporate. The Uniti Leasing segment involves mission-critical communications assets on exclusive or shared-tenant basis, and dark fiber network. The Uniti Fiber segment includes the operation of infrastructure solutions, cell site backhauls, and dark fiber. The Corporate segment consists of office and shared service functions. The company was founded in February 2014 and is headquartered in Little Rock, AR.