Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Trims Stake in CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lessened its stake in shares of CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 47,851 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,798 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in CubeSmart were worth $2,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CUBE. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of CubeSmart by 38.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 762,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,427,000 after acquiring an additional 210,871 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CubeSmart during the 2nd quarter worth about $541,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of CubeSmart by 6.1% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 625,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,231,000 after buying an additional 36,000 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of CubeSmart in the second quarter valued at approximately $662,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its stake in shares of CubeSmart by 330.2% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 80,405 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,632,000 after buying an additional 61,714 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.61% of the company’s stock.

CubeSmart Stock Down 0.3 %

CUBE opened at $53.94 on Friday. CubeSmart has a 1 year low of $33.17 and a 1 year high of $55.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $50.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a current ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $12.13 billion, a PE ratio of 29.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 0.82.

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $266.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.68 million. CubeSmart had a return on equity of 14.37% and a net margin of 38.07%. CubeSmart’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that CubeSmart will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

CubeSmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. CubeSmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 113.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CUBE. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of CubeSmart from $53.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered CubeSmart from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $53.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on CubeSmart from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank began coverage on CubeSmart in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of CubeSmart from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.50.

Insider Transactions 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 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,205,194.11. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other CubeSmart news, COO Joel D. Keaton sold 43,478 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.97, for a total value of $2,085,639.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 87,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,205,194.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Foster sold 7,739 shares of CubeSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.30, for a total transaction of $366,054.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 182,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,630,358. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 88,217 shares of company stock valued at $4,244,344 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.68% 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.