CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) Shares Acquired by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) by 29.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 189,938 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,414 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CubeSmart were worth $8,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CUBE. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of CubeSmart by 54.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 330,549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,793,000 after acquiring an additional 115,904 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC lifted its stake in CubeSmart by 232.9% in the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 32,280 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after buying an additional 22,582 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in CubeSmart by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 1,090 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in CubeSmart by 55.2% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,940 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after buying an additional 8,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in CubeSmart by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 16,352 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $701,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.61% of the company’s stock.

CubeSmart Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of CUBE opened at $42.31 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 1.00. CubeSmart has a fifty-two week low of $34.24 and a fifty-two week high of $55.14.

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $273.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $268.16 million. CubeSmart had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 37.79%. CubeSmart’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that CubeSmart will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

CubeSmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.92%. CubeSmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 123.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CUBE. Mizuho began coverage on CubeSmart in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp raised CubeSmart from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Bank of America raised CubeSmart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $44.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on CubeSmart from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on CubeSmart from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CubeSmart has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.00.

CubeSmart Company Profile

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.