Sovran Self Storage – Look Out for Uncle Bob!

In my years away from stocks, I did two general things: ran a game website and participated in storage auctions. The latter endeavor enabled me to cross paths with several self-storage companies including one named Uncle Bob’s which is owned by  Sovran Self Storage (SSS). Uncle Bob’s self-storage facilities are located all over South East Texas where most others are owned by mom and pops. Self-storage is an interesting business because all they do is allow customers to store stuff for a fee every month. Some of the storage is located outside, while the more expensive storage is climate controlled. It doesn’t matter what the person is storing, they have to pay every single month. It can be something valuable or just garbage, the cost is the same. If the person does not pay on time, management can then place their own lock on the door to the storage unit. After a few months or so ( it may vary depending on the owners of the facility), the unit can be placed in a storage auction for sale to the highest bidder. The contents are then sold to recover the fees that are owed after paying the auctioneer. This method does encourage a lot of people to pay before that happens.

Uncle Bob’s stood out from the rest because they have a caravan of storage auctions throughout the area every single month. No other storage company comes close to that in my area. It starts art 8:00 AM in the morning and then goes to 4 to 7  different Uncle Bob’s in the area ending around noon usually. It is a good system that helps them recover late fees and clean out lockers without having to use labor. Whoever buys the locker at the Auction has to clean out the whole thing or they are not allowed back to the Auctions. Neat how that works huh?

Getting to the stock, SSS is not only a high flying stock with a great yield, but it is also a REIT (real estate investment trust) with a very healthy dividend of currently 3%. It is in 52-week high territory now as it is a clear leader in what it does and is packaged with a nice yield.

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