CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) Short Interest Down 11.6% in September

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,820,000 shares, a decline of 11.6% from the September 15th total of 4,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,270,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Insider Activity at CubeSmart

In related news, COO Joel D. Keaton sold 43,478 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.97, for a total transaction of $2,085,639.66. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 87,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,205,194.11. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, 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 value of $366,054.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 182,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,630,358. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Joel D. Keaton sold 43,478 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.97, for a total transaction of $2,085,639.66. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 87,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,205,194.11. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 88,217 shares of company stock worth $4,244,344 in the last ninety days. 1.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of CubeSmart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in CubeSmart during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in CubeSmart by 136.9% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 559 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CubeSmart during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of CubeSmart by 302.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of CubeSmart during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. 97.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on CUBE. Truist Financial lifted their target price on CubeSmart from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group cut CubeSmart from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on CubeSmart from $53.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. 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. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on CubeSmart in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.50.

CubeSmart Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE CUBE traded down $0.06 on Thursday, hitting $50.33. 16,328 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,346,491. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $51.48 and a 200-day moving average of $46.77. CubeSmart has a 12 month low of $33.17 and a 12 month high of $55.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $11.33 billion, a PE ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 0.82.

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $266.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $260.68 million. CubeSmart had a return on equity of 14.37% and a net margin of 38.07%. CubeSmart’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that CubeSmart will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

CubeSmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. CubeSmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.61%.

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.