Merit Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE:EXR)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE:EXR) by 190.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,089 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,965 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Extra Space Storage were worth $1,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Natixis purchased a new position in Extra Space Storage during the 4th quarter valued at $11,501,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its position in Extra Space Storage by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 9,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,579 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Extra Space Storage by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,109 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Extra Space Storage by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 287,956 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $43,078,000 after buying an additional 9,804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Extra Space Storage by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 32,279 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,829,000 after buying an additional 1,402 shares in the last quarter. 99.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on EXR shares. Benchmark dropped their price target on shares of Extra Space Storage from $61.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Extra Space Storage from $155.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Extra Space Storage from $144.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Extra Space Storage in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Extra Space Storage from $141.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph J. Bonner sold 672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.10, for a total transaction of $100,195.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $679,448.70. This trade represents a 12.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Joseph D. Margolis sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.45, for a total value of $1,105,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,355,065.50. This trade represents a 44.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Extra Space Storage Stock Performance

EXR opened at $149.93 on Friday. Extra Space Storage Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.03 and a 52-week high of $184.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $143.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $31.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 1.11.

Extra Space Storage (NYSE:EXR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.04. Extra Space Storage had a return on equity of 5.51% and a net margin of 25.35%. The business had revenue of $820.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $705.12 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Extra Space Storage Inc. will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Extra Space Storage Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Extra Space Storage’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 150.35%.

About Extra Space Storage

Extra Space Storage Inc, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a self-administered and self-managed REIT and a member of the S&P 500. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned and/or operated 3,714 self-storage stores in 42 states and Washington, DC The Company's stores comprise approximately 2.6 million units and approximately 283.0 million square feet of rentable space operating under the Extra Space, Life Storage and Storage Express brands.