CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) Short Interest Down 15.7% in March

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,430,000 shares, a decrease of 15.7% from the March 15th total of 4,070,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,800,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

CubeSmart Price Performance

Shares of CUBE stock traded down $0.38 on Monday, reaching $39.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 45,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,433,307. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.03. CubeSmart has a 1 year low of $34.24 and a 1 year high of $55.14. The company has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $231.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $267.54 million. CubeSmart had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 37.79%. Analysts forecast that CubeSmart will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CubeSmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.31%. CubeSmart’s payout ratio is 120.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CUBE shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on CubeSmart from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Scotiabank cut shares of CubeSmart from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $46.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of CubeSmart from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised CubeSmart from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of CubeSmart in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.31.

Institutional Trading of CubeSmart

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in CubeSmart by 74.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in CubeSmart by 134.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 679 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of CubeSmart by 9,614.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 680 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in CubeSmart by 310.6% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 739 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in CubeSmart by 59.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 942 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during 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.