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

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

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group downgraded CubeSmart from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of CubeSmart from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of CubeSmart from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of CubeSmart from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of CubeSmart from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.91.

CubeSmart Stock Performance

Shares of CUBE opened at $41.60 on Thursday. CubeSmart has a 12-month low of $39.80 and a 12-month high of $55.14. The stock has a market cap of $9.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a PEG ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 0.84. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $46.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.40.

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $270.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.49 million. CubeSmart had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 37.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that CubeSmart will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CubeSmart Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.00%. This is an increase from CubeSmart’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. CubeSmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 117.51%.

Institutional Trading of CubeSmart

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of CubeSmart by 302.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in CubeSmart during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CubeSmart in the third quarter worth $33,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of CubeSmart by 195.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,144 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of CubeSmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. 97.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.