Group Increases Stake in Storage Equities Inc.

A group led by B. Wayne Hughes, president of Storage Equities Inc., has raised its stake in Storage Equities to 734,915 shares, or 5.4% of the company’s stock, from about 4.3%.

Storage Equities is a Glendale-based real estate investment trust that invests mainly in self-storage warehouses and has close ties to Public Storage Inc., a major operator of such facilities that is also headed by Hughes.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Hughes group said it bought 110,267 additional shares of Storage Equities between Dec. 21 and Jan. 2 for $6.50 to $6.62 a share.

The group also received 34,601 Storage Equities shares between Dec. 1 and Jan. 1 as part of a separate consolidation of several limited partnerships into the Public Storage organization, the SEC filing stated.