Public Storage vs SIMON PROPERTY GROUP, INC., two REIT stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Public Storage and Simon Property are both high-margin retail-adjacent landlords, but their balance sheets could not differ more: Public Storage runs 1.04 turns of debt, Simon 4.65, mall real estate leaning far harder on leverage. Simon trades at the sector's cheapest multiple, 15.8 times earnings, against Public Storage's 33.5, though both distort through depreciation. The clean quality comparison is return on equity, where Public Storage's 20.4% reflects real pricing power over its storage tenants. Public Storage yields more free cash, 5.57% against 4.38%; the dividends nearly match at 3.70% and 3.77%. This sets low-leverage storage against high-leverage malls: Public Storage compounds quietly on modest borrowing, Simon squeezes higher returns from premium locations by leaning hard on debt against them.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | PSA | SPG |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $324.33 | $226.89 |
| Market cap | $57.1B | $73.7B |
| Sector | REIT | REIT |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| P/E | 33.5 | 15.8 |
| P/B | 6.12 | 12.14 |
| P/S | 11.74 | 11.09 |
| EV/EBITDA | 40.8 | 21.3 |
| Revenue growth | +2.9% | +10.9% |
| Operating margin | 39.0% | 43.4% |
| Net margin | 39.2% | 82.0% |
| Return on equity | 20.4% | 89.8% |
| Return on assets | 9.6% | 13.8% |
| Return on invested capital | 2.5% | 7.4% |
| FCF yield | 5.6% | 4.4% |
| Dividend yield | 3.7% | 3.8% |
| Debt / equity | 1.04 | 4.65 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 3.49 | 1.39 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 8 / 9 | 8 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.