CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $52.00 to $53.00. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the stock. CubeSmart traded as high as $54.62 and last traded at $54.38, with a volume of 98841 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $54.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered CubeSmart from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on CubeSmart from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of CubeSmart from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of CubeSmart in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of CubeSmart from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Foster sold 7,739 shares of CubeSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.30, for a total value of $366,054.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 182,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,630,358. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, COO Joel D. Keaton sold 43,478 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.97, for a total value of $2,085,639.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 87,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,205,194.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Foster sold 7,739 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.30, for a total transaction of $366,054.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 182,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,630,358. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 88,217 shares of company stock worth $4,244,344 in the last three months. 1.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CubeSmart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of CubeSmart in the fourth quarter worth about $444,818,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of CubeSmart by 1,575.2% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,820,434 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $82,277,000 after acquiring an additional 1,711,762 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of CubeSmart by 26.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,687,536 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $257,191,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205,097 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of CubeSmart during the first quarter worth $48,716,000. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC lifted its position in CubeSmart by 824.1% during the fourth quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 1,127,979 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005,922 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.61% of the company’s stock.

CubeSmart Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.54. The company has a market capitalization of $12.29 billion, a PE ratio of 30.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.03 and a quick ratio of 0.03.

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $266.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $260.68 million. CubeSmart had a net margin of 38.07% and a return on equity of 14.37%. CubeSmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that CubeSmart will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

CubeSmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. CubeSmart’s payout ratio is 113.33%.

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.