Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Stock Holdings in CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE)

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in CubeSmart were worth $110,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CUBE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in CubeSmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $444,818,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of CubeSmart by 1,575.2% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,820,434 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $82,277,000 after buying an additional 1,711,762 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of CubeSmart by 26.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,687,536 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $257,191,000 after buying an additional 1,205,097 shares in the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in CubeSmart during the first quarter worth $48,716,000. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $52,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005,922 shares during the period. 97.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Foster sold 7,739 shares of the firm’s 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 $8,630,358. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other CubeSmart news, COO Joel D. Keaton sold 43,478 shares of CubeSmart stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Foster sold 7,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.30, for a total transaction of $366,054.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 182,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,630,358. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 88,217 shares of company stock valued at $4,244,344 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on CubeSmart from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of CubeSmart from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of CubeSmart in a report on Thursday. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on CubeSmart from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on CubeSmart from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CubeSmart currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.09.

CubeSmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CUBE opened at $51.48 on Monday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $46.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.54. The stock has a market cap of $11.59 billion, a PE ratio of 28.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.22 and a beta of 0.80. CubeSmart has a one year low of $33.17 and a one year high of $51.60.

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) last issued 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 company had revenue of $266.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $260.68 million. CubeSmart had a net margin of 38.07% and a return on equity of 14.37%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that CubeSmart will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CubeSmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. 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.