New Morningstar Analyst Report - U-Store-It Trust

Thanks to dividend cuts and multiple capital raises, U-Store-It has considerably deleveraged and unencumbered its balance sheet during the last couple of years. Though in better financial condition, we caution that its debt load still could cause problems for U-Store-It down the road if credit markets don't cooperate. Moreover, while U-Store-It's operations have benefited from a rebound in consumer sentiment, it nonetheless is captive to a highly competitive, no-moat self-storage property sector. As such, we suggest a substantial discount to our fair value estimate prior to investing.