Analyzing Global Self Storage (NASDAQ:SELF) and Service Properties Trust (NASDAQ:SVC)

Service Properties Trust (NASDAQ:SVC) and Global Self Storage (NASDAQ:SELF) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Service Properties Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Global Self Storage pays an annual dividend of $0.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. Service Properties Trust pays out -2.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Global Self Storage pays out 170.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Service Properties Trust	-13.59%	-38.18%	-3.58%
Global Self Storage	15.37%	4.19%	3.04%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Service Properties Trust and Global Self Storage, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Service Properties Trust	1	2	3	0	2.33
Global Self Storage	0	1	0	0	2.00

Service Properties Trust currently has a consensus price target of $2.56, suggesting a potential upside of 52.99%. Given Service Properties Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Service Properties Trust is more favorable than Global Self Storage.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

77.6% of Service Properties Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.9% of Global Self Storage shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Service Properties Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 10.7% of Global Self Storage shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Service Properties Trust and Global Self Storage”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Service Properties Trust	$1.81 billion	0.60	-$202.32 million	($1.42)	-1.18
Global Self Storage	$12.70 million	4.68	$2.04 million	$0.17	30.65

Global Self Storage has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Service Properties Trust. Service Properties Trust 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.

Summary

Global Self Storage beats Service Properties Trust on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Service Properties Trust

Service Properties Trust (Nasdaq: SVC) is a real estate investment trust with over $11 billion invested in two asset categories: hotels and service-focused retail net lease properties. As of December 31, 2023, SVC owned 221 hotels with over 37,000 guest rooms throughout the United States and in Puerto Rico and Canada, the majority of which are extended stay and select service. As of December 31, 2023, SVC also owned 752 service-focused retail net lease properties totaling approximately 13.3 million square feet throughout the United States. SVC is managed by The RMR Group (Nasdaq: RMR), a leading U.S. alternative asset management company with over $41 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2023, and more than 35 years of institutional experience in buying, selling, financing and operating commercial real estate. SVC is headquartered in Newton, MA.

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.