Top 5 Large-Cap Stocks for June 3

Each business day, TheStreet.com Ratings TheStreet.com Ratings compiles a list of the top five stocks in five categories -- fast-growth, all-around value, large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap -- and publishes these lists in the Ratings section of our Web site.

This list is based on data from the close of the previous trading session. Today, large-cap stocks are in the spotlight. These are stocks of companies with market capitalizations of over $10 billion that rank near the top of all stocks rated by our proprietary quantitative model, which looks at more than 62 factors. In addition, the stocks must be followed by at least one financial analyst who posts estimates on the Institutional Brokers' Estimate System. The stocks are ordered by their potential to appreciate.

Note that no provision is made for off-balance-sheet assets such as unrealized appreciation/depreciation of investments, market value of real estate or contingent liabilities that might affect book value. This could be material for some companies with large underfunded pension plans.

Public Storage(PSA.A Quote) operates as a real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns, and operates self-storage facilities in the United States and Europe. We have rated the stock a buy since January 2009. The rating is based on such strengths as the company's largely solid financial position, attractive valuation levels, expanding profit margins, good cash flow from operations, and relatively strong performance in comparison with the S&P 500 over the past year.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2009, Public Storage increased its net operating cash flow 12.79% year-over-year. The company's gross profit margin of 44.30% was strong and has increased significantly from the same quarter last year, while a net profit margin of 50.70% outperformed against the industry average. In addition, the company has a very low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, which implies successful debt management.