Lazard Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE)

Lazard Asset Management LLC reduced its position in CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) by 31.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 504,496 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 235,389 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.22% of CubeSmart worth $22,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CubeSmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $444,818,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CubeSmart during the first quarter valued at approximately $48,716,000. Centersquare Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,005,922 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of CubeSmart by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,806,196 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $130,067,000 after acquiring an additional 965,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in shares of CubeSmart by 4,265.5% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 649,106 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,086,000 after acquiring an additional 634,237 shares in the last quarter. 97.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CUBE shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of CubeSmart from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of CubeSmart from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of CubeSmart from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of CubeSmart from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.36.

CubeSmart Price Performance

NYSE CUBE opened at $47.64 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. CubeSmart has a 12-month low of $33.17 and a 12-month high of $49.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.47, a P/E/G ratio of 8.24 and a beta of 0.80.

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $261.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $253.91 million. CubeSmart had a net margin of 38.64% and a return on equity of 14.48%. CubeSmart’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that CubeSmart will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CubeSmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. CubeSmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 113.33%.

CubeSmart 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.