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

Lazard Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) by 31.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 504,496 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 235,389 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CubeSmart were worth $22,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CUBE. IFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in CubeSmart by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 8,662 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of CubeSmart by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 14,439 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $669,000 after purchasing an additional 916 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of CubeSmart in the 4th quarter valued at $279,000. Oak Thistle LLC raised its holdings in shares of CubeSmart by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 23,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 5,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of CubeSmart by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 124,717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,781,000 after purchasing an additional 24,483 shares in the last quarter. 97.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CubeSmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CUBE opened at $47.64 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $44.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.98. CubeSmart has a 12 month low of $33.17 and a 12 month high of $49.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.04. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.22). CubeSmart had a return on equity of 14.48% and a net margin of 38.64%. The business had revenue of $261.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $253.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CubeSmart will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CubeSmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. CubeSmart’s payout ratio is currently 113.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CUBE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of CubeSmart from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of CubeSmart from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of CubeSmart from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of CubeSmart from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.36.

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.