Research · Sep 3, 2026
[NSA] National Storage Affiliates Thesis 2026: Self Storage REIT PRO Internalization Compounder
National Storage Affiliates Trust (NYSE: NSA), headquartered in Greenwood-Village-CO, is a Self-Storage-REIT + emerging-multi-cycle-Self-Storage-REIT-PRO-Structure-Conversion-and-Internalization leader providing distinctive multi-cycle Self-Storage-Property-Sun-Belt-and-National-and-Joint-Venture + emerging-multi-cycle-Self-Storage-REIT-PRO-Structure-Internalization-and-Recovery + emerging-Joint-Venture-Capital-Recycling services to substantial multi-cycle Self-Storage-Tenant-Customer + multi-cycle-emerging-Sun-Belt-and-National-Self-Storage-Tenant + multi-cycle-emerging-Residential-Self-Storage-Move-and-Life-Event-Tenant + multi-cycle-emerging-Business-Self-Storage-Inventory-and-Document-Storage-Tenant customer base. The company has distinctive multi-cycle National-Storage-Affiliates-and-Greenwood-Village-CO-and-Self-Storage-REIT heritage: founded 2013 as National-Storage-Affiliates-Trust-Founder-Arlen-Nordhagen-and-PRO-Participating-Regional-Operator-Structure (Unique-PRO-Participating-Regional-Operator-Structure-Self-Storage-REIT) + 2015-NYSE-National-Storage-Affiliates-Trust-IPO; 2015-2022 substantial multi-cycle Self-Storage-PRO-Acquisitions-and-Portfolio-Growth; 2018-2022-Self-Storage-COVID-Cycle-and-Sun-Belt-Migration-Demand-Acceleration; 2022-2023-PRO-Structure-Internalization-Process-Initiation; 2023-David-Cramer-CEO-Succession-from-Tamara-Fischer-Former-CEO + Multi-Cycle-PRO-Structure-Internalization-Strategy-Acceleration; 2024-PRO-Structure-Internalization-Complete + Multi-Cycle-Self-Storage-REIT-Same-Store-NOI-Recovery-Post-Internalization + Joint-Venture-Capital-Recycling; multi-cycle-disciplined-Self-Storage-REIT-Portfolio-and-PRO-Structure-Internalization; David-Cramer-CEO-since-2023 + Multi-Cycle-NSA-Capital-Management leadership-continuity + Multi-Cycle-Dividend-Capital-Management (~9+ year continuous dividend). FY2025 closes with selected various aggregate revenue ~$830-915M (~-2 to +5% YoY-reflecting Self-Storage-REIT-Cycle + emerging-multi-cycle-Self-Storage-REIT-PRO-Structure-Internalization-and-Recovery + emerging-Joint-Venture-Capital-Recycling), adjusted EBITDA ~$555-630M (~67-72% margins), adjusted FFO/AFFO ~$395-465M (~$1.95-2.30/sh AFFO), net debt ~$3.65-4.10B (~5.5-6.5x EBITDA leverage Investment-Grade-equivalent), and ~75-77M shares outstanding under President & CEO David Cramer (since-2023). The Self-Storage-REIT-Sun-Belt-and-National-Portfolio-and-PRO-Internalization franchise deep-dive covers distinctive multi-cycle ~700-750 employees + ~Greenwood-Village-CO-HQ + ~Sun-Belt-and-National-Self-Storage-Portfolio (~1,050-1,100 Self-Storage-Property + ~60-65M-square-feet-Net-Rentable-Square-Feet), Self-Storage-Wholly-Owned-Portfolio ~78-85% revenue + Joint-Venture-Self-Storage-Portfolio ~12-18% revenue + Management-Fee-and-Other-Adjacency ~3-7% revenue, substantial multi-cycle Self-Storage-Tenant-Customer + Sun-Belt-and-National-Self-Storage-Tenant + Residential-Self-Storage-Move-and-Life-Event-Tenant + Business-Self-Storage-Inventory-and-Document-Storage-Tenant customer base, 2015-NYSE-NSA-IPO + 2015-2022-Self-Storage-PRO-Acquisitions + 2018-2022-COVID-Cycle-and-Sun-Belt-Migration-Demand-Acceleration + 2022-2023-PRO-Structure-Internalization-Process-Initiation + 2023-David-Cramer-CEO-Succession + 2024-PRO-Structure-Internalization-Complete + Multi-Cycle-Joint-Venture-Capital-Recycling transformational-platform, emerging-multi-cycle Self-Storage-REIT-NOI-Recovery-Post-PRO-Internalization + emerging-Self-Storage-REIT-PRO-Structure-Internalization-Complete-2023-2024 + emerging-Sun-Belt-and-National-Self-Storage-Portfolio-Same-Store-NOI-Cycle + emerging-Joint-Venture-Capital-Recycling + emerging-Conservative-Debt-Paydown + emerging-Self-Storage-Industry-Consolidation-Cycle structural-tailwinds, competing in Self-Storage-REIT space with Public Storage, Extra Space Storage (Life-Storage-acquired-2023), CubeSmart, and private-equity-Blackstone-StorageMart-and-Public-Storage-Acquired-Simply-Self-Storage-2023, Apollo-KKR-Carlyle-Bain-CD&R-EQT-Permira-CVC-Bridgepoint-Cinven-Ardian-TPG-Brookfield-Self-Storage-Investments-Stonepeak-Self-Storage-Partners. The David-Cramer + 2023-CEO-succession + 2013-NSA-Founded-and-2024-PRO-Structure-Internalization-Complete deep-dive covers David-Cramer-CEO (since-2023 + Former-NSA-COO) + Tamara-Fischer-Former-CEO-leadership-succession-2023 + multi-cycle-NSA-Capital-Management leadership-continuity expertise, multi-cycle-disciplined-Self-Storage-REIT-Portfolio-and-PRO-Structure-Internalization discipline, multi-cycle-reliable-and-emerging-growing-dividend (~$2.24/yr, ~5.5-7.5% yield, ~95-115% AFFO payout, ~9+ year continuous) + multi-cycle-emerging-share-buyback (~$25-100M/yr discretionary). Capital position is Investment-Grade-equivalent (Baa2/BBB to Baa1/BBB+ ~5.5-6.5x EBITDA leverage). At ~$30-45 per share, equity value ~$2.30-3.45B, EV ~$5.95-7.55B, providing ~14-23x AFFO and ~10-14x EV/EBITDA.