Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) vs. CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) Financial Review

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) and Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares CubeSmart and Piedmont Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CubeSmart	33.31%	12.49%	5.37%
Piedmont Realty Trust	-14.80%	-5.44%	-2.09%

Risk & Volatility

CubeSmart has a beta of 1.12, suggesting that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Piedmont Realty Trust has a beta of 1.26, suggesting that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

97.6% of CubeSmart shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.5% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of CubeSmart shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for CubeSmart and Piedmont Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CubeSmart	0	11	5	0	2.31
Piedmont Realty Trust	1	1	1	0	2.00

CubeSmart currently has a consensus price target of $44.13, suggesting a potential upside of 10.43%. Piedmont Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $9.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.08%. Given Piedmont Realty Trust’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Piedmont Realty Trust is more favorable than CubeSmart.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares CubeSmart and Piedmont Realty Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CubeSmart	$929.08 million	9.81	$391.18 million	$1.56	25.62
Piedmont Realty Trust	$564.99 million	1.66	-$83.62 million	($0.68)	-11.02

CubeSmart has higher revenue and earnings than Piedmont Realty Trust. Piedmont Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CubeSmart, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

CubeSmart beats Piedmont Realty Trust on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CubeSmart

CubeSmart is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust. The Company's self-storage properties are designed to offer affordable, easily accessible and, in most locations, climate-controlled storage space for residential and commercial customers. According to the 2023 Self-Storage Almanac, CubeSmart is one of the top three owners and operators of self-storage properties in the United States.

About Piedmont Realty Trust

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (also referred to herein as "Piedmont" or the "Company") (NYSE: PDM) is an owner, manager, developer, redeveloper and operator of high-quality, Class A office properties located primarily in major U.S. Sunbelt markets. The Company is a fully-integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") with local management offices in each of its markets and is investment-grade rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's. The Company was designated an Energy Star Partner of the Year for 2021, 2022 and 2023, and it was the only office REIT headquartered in the Southeast to receive those designations. Approximately 85% of the Company's square footage is Energy Star certified and nearly 70% is LEED certified. Piedmont is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.