CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) Cut to Hold at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $46.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $57.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of CubeSmart from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays decreased their target price on CubeSmart from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on CubeSmart from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of CubeSmart from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of CubeSmart from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $53.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.91.

CubeSmart Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of CUBE stock opened at $42.32 on Thursday. CubeSmart has a 1-year low of $39.80 and a 1-year high of $55.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $9.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.91, a PEG ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $46.69 and a 200-day moving average of $48.41.

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $270.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.49 million. CubeSmart had a net margin of 37.79% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CubeSmart will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

CubeSmart Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This is an increase from CubeSmart’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.91%. CubeSmart’s payout ratio is presently 117.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CubeSmart

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of CubeSmart by 32.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 158,472 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,531,000 after purchasing an additional 39,270 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in CubeSmart by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 319,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,950,000 after buying an additional 36,919 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in CubeSmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $628,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in CubeSmart by 127.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 33,013 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,777,000 after acquiring an additional 18,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of CubeSmart by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 546,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,406,000 after acquiring an additional 173,683 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.61% of the company’s stock.

About CubeSmart

CubeSmart is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust. The Company's self-storage properties are designed to offer affordable, easily accessible and, in most locations, climate-controlled storage space for residential and commercial customers. According to the 2023 Self-Storage Almanac, CubeSmart is one of the top three owners and operators of self-storage properties in the United States.