Big Yellow
Big Yellow Group PLC (Ticker: FTSE 250 – BYG) is one of the leading UK self-storage operators with over 109 facilities, including the acquisition of 24 locations from the Armadillo group.
The majority of the facilities (99%) are either freehold or long leasehold, with the remaining 1% on short term leases. The group has 13 new development sites in the pipeline for facilities in areas like Epsom, Leicester, Queensbury, Slough, Staines, Wapping and Wembley.
Shares of BYG are classed as a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). The groups portfolio can be viewed here by clicking this link.
Self-Storage operators have increased in popularity over the past 15-20 years, dominated by a handful of national operators. Due to the high initial capital investment required, barriers to entry are extremely steep, resulting in limited competition from new entrants.
As the United Kingdom is a relatively small island and space is at a premium. Whether space is needed for retail customers moving home, seasonal students, charities, or businesses, demand has grown considerably over the last ten years.
With an increasingly diverse and transient population, temporary storage has grown in popularity and will remain so for years to come. In good economic times, the industry thrives as new business ventures set up and require working space. In hard times-when interest rates are high, and housing defaults increase, or recessions occur, self-storage becomes a necessity if someone is unfortunate enough to lose their job, house, or both.
Some industry insiders and analysts go as far to say the self-storage industry is recession-proof, as it generates reoccurring revenue during both strong and weak economies.
The Big Yellow Group operates a portfolio of stores in prominent locations, which provides a natural advantage when attracting new customers. This strong presence increases brand awareness while reducing the need for costly marketing or pay-per-click advertising on search engines. The Big Yellow brand is one of the most recognised names within the sector and is frequently highlighted in annual self-storage surveys conducted by JLL.
Big Yellow Group average 5 year share price
Big Yellow’s average share price over the past five years (08/2019 to 08/2024) ranged from:
A low point of £6.95 around March 2020 when the pandemic started, to a peak of £17.51 in Jan 2022.
Based on my own experience looking at long-term holding, I would look to purchase additional shares around the £8.95 – £9.00 price target.
An ideal exit strategy would be to hold for 10-15 years before selling in the late teens, with a target sell price of £18.50 to £20.00.
Big Yellow dividend
Big Yellow pays a semi-annual dividend, usually in the months of January and July, and has paid and increased the dividend for ten consecutive years.
Being a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust), the Group’s dividend policy is to distribute 80% of full-year adjusted earnings per share.
An interim dividend for 2026 was increased by 3% to 23.80p per share. Dividend cover sits at steady historical average of 1.25x, which is an important metric to consider when looking at the sustainability of future dividends, indicating that the payout is well-covered by income.
For research purposes, we have listed the last eleven years of annual dividend distributions below:
2025 £0.4640 pence
2024 £0.452 pence
2023 £0.452 pence
2022 £0.42 pence
2021 £0.34 pence
2020 £0.338 pence
2019 £0.332 pence
2018 £0.308 pence
2017 £0.276 pence
2016 £0.249 pence
2015 £0.217 pence
Current Big Yellow Group fundamentals are:
P/E: 14.78 (24/07/2026)
Dividend Yield: 5.31% (24/07/2026)
EPS Growth: (3%) (31/03/2025)
Since investing in this equity, the total income received over a full-ten year period has been £770.80, averaging £77.08 per year.
When we purchased 200 shares in 2016 at £6.82 each, the share price was lower; the share appreciation has increased reasonably well during this period.
Total return or “Return on Investment” is calculated by using both share price appreciation and dividends collected over the holding period. Big Yellow is on the way to doubling our original investment, making Big Yellow a great long term investment.
To view how the Big Yellow dividend income complements the portfolio’s total annual income generated by all stocks, click here.
Further income analysis can be found in the file below:
BYG
Disclaimer:
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