Forclosures, Moving and SSS Storage

Sovran Self Storage (SSS) raised its dividend, which amount to a nice reward for a bet on people having to leave. At 7.40% it would appear that SSS is a good place to park as Americans sort out their financial issues and go on the move to new digs, or self storage lockers. After all, Oprah reminded all of America on Thursday that we'll have to make do with less and she must know since she picks presidents now.

Most recently on Sept 7, Oppenheimer reminded investors to "get smart" (see photo, and video below), as it initiated coverage with a cautious "underperform" rating.

SSS enjoyed a run up of 5% in the last minutes of trading on Friday to end the worst week ever, even if it's 15 points from last year's high. That's a little odd, in light of it trading Ex-dividend on Oct. 6, meaning investors will miss the boat on the Oct 22 payday. Nevertheless, bulls seem to love the idea of cash flows from storage.

However, SSS ratios are not exactly a delight. SSS's P/E, PEG and P/S are leaving The Yield Hoe with that feeling of being overworked and underpaid, like a fire fighter who spends half the day chasing a cat from a tree. In spite of the Hedge fund manager in Ireland speaking gloom and doom on CNBC the other night ("fundamentals are now just an intellectual curiosity at this point as investors raise whatever cash they can from the equity markets around the world"), we're in camp with Oppie on this one on the fundimentals: not amused, given SSS's PEG ratio of 1.96.

P/E (ttm):	17.27
EPS (ttm):	1.90
Div & Yield:	2.56 (7.30%)

PEG Ratio (5 yr expected): 1.96

Don't get me wrong, we like the idea that Uncle Bob's has expanded to Tampa and several other location in Floridas, Texas, Ohio and KY and Colorado. SSS paid 140 million for 21 units of the "Lock N Key" brand. We were in Tampa last year and could not get a anything to eat anywhere upon rolling into town, after 10pm. It was a far cry from the good old days of the Telecom boom. Self Storage is the kind of real estate we like in this hypothetical end of the world climate, but the values just do not seem to be there in SSS or any of it's peers, such as U-Haul, U-Store-it, or the giant Public Storage. But we wonder what happens when people don't pay their bills. Does EBAY 's earning grow, as managers struggle to sell all of American's "stuff" of which they take delivery? Perhaps there is a cash to be bullish for online flea markets, Pawn shops, Cash Advance and Payday loans too.

Here's the dirty low down from Yahoo competitors, on the self storage business:

	SSS	UHAL	EXR	PSA	Industry
Market Cap:	720.87M	678.25M	1.04B	14.25B	997.54M
Employ­ees:	1,057	11,100	1,853	5,700	153
Qtrly Rev Growth (yoy):	4.60%	-2.10%	19.00%	-4.90%	18.70%
Revenue (ttm):	194.69M	2.04B	267.09M	1.83B	267.09M
Gross Margin (ttm):	72.03%	29.32%	68.03%	65.22%	72.92%
EBITDA (ttm):	112.65M	416.20M	142.95M	1.12B	198.44M
Oper Margins (ttm):	40.34%	9.00%	36.61%	34.08%	35.96%
Net Income (ttm):	40.53M	42.90M	35.02M	702.30M	N/A
EPS (ttm):	1.902	2.189	0.514	4.153	1.34
P/E (ttm):	17.27	15.78	24.69	20.42	22.39
PEG (5 yr expected):	1.96	1.55	1.5	1.98	1.50
P/S (ttm):	3.58	0.30	3.53	6.46	3.79

So I guess we're trying to say, in this new age of Chaos, it may not even pay to "Get Smart", but it's better than making bad bets at OTB, right?: