Head-To-Head Analysis: Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) vs. Global Self Storage (NASDAQ:SELF)

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) and Global Self Storage (NASDAQ:SELF) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and valuation.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Digital Realty Trust	11.80%	3.34%	1.59%
Global Self Storage	16.64%	4.57%	3.32%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Digital Realty Trust and Global Self Storage”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Digital Realty Trust	$6.11 billion	11.06	$1.31 billion	$2.06	88.45
Global Self Storage	$12.70 million	4.72	$2.04 million	$0.18	29.17

Digital Realty Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Global Self Storage. Global Self Storage 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.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

99.7% of Digital Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.9% of Global Self Storage shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Digital Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.7% of Global Self Storage shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Digital Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $4.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Global Self Storage pays an annual dividend of $0.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. 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. 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. Global Self Storage is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Digital Realty Trust and Global Self Storage, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Digital Realty Trust	0	6	25	1	2.84
Global Self Storage	0	0	1	0	3.00

Digital Realty Trust currently has a consensus target price of $219.45, suggesting a potential upside of 20.45%. Given Digital Realty Trust’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Digital Realty Trust is more favorable than Global Self Storage.

Summary

Digital Realty Trust beats Global Self Storage on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.