SunTrust Banks Inc. lowered shares of Sovran Self Storage Inc. (NYSE:LSI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Thursday morning. The firm currently has $86.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock.
A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on LSI. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Sovran Self Storage from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, September 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sovran Self Storage from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $96.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 26th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $108.00 target price on shares of Sovran Self Storage and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 2nd. FBR & Co upped their target price on shares of Sovran Self Storage from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a mkt perform rating in a research report on Thursday, November 3rd. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Sovran Self Storage from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Sovran Self Storage presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $100.45.
Sovran Self Storage (NYSE:LSI) opened at 83.72 on Thursday. Sovran Self Storage has a 52 week low of $77.00 and a 52 week high of $118.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $83.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.49. The company has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.25 and a beta of 0.59.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 12th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.54%. Sovran Self Storage’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 152.61%.
In related news, Director Stephen R. Rusmisel bought 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $81.51 per share, for a total transaction of $40,755.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $384,075.12. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arthur L. Havener, Jr. bought 2,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $79.55 per share, for a total transaction of $216,694.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $448,582.45. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 3,309 shares of company stock worth $264,389 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.
Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LSI. Wells Fargo & Company MN acquired a new position in shares of Sovran Self Storage during the third quarter valued at $5,675,000. Rhumbline Advisers acquired a new position in shares of Sovran Self Storage during the third quarter valued at $9,072,000. BlackRock Fund Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Sovran Self Storage during the third quarter valued at $182,920,000. Morgan Stanley acquired a new position in shares of Sovran Self Storage during the third quarter valued at $91,627,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Sovran Self Storage during the third quarter valued at $10,072,000. 91.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
About Sovran Self Storage
Life Storage, Inc, formerly Sovran Self Storage, Inc, is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust. The Company owns and operates self-storage facilities across the United States. As of June 30, 2016, the Company had an ownership interest in and/or managed 563 self-storage properties in 26 states under the name Uncle Bob’s Self Storage.
