CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) Short Interest Up 33.2% in April

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,570,000 shares, a growth of 33.2% from the March 31st total of 3,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,770,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CUBE. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of CubeSmart from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of CubeSmart in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised CubeSmart from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $46.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of CubeSmart from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of CubeSmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $47.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CubeSmart has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.85.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CubeSmart

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of CubeSmart by 74.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 675 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in CubeSmart by 134.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 679 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in CubeSmart by 9,614.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 680 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of CubeSmart by 310.6% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 739 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in CubeSmart by 115.2% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 936 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. 97.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CubeSmart Stock Performance

NYSE:CUBE traded up $1.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $42.63. 2,896,917 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,459,035. The company's 50 day moving average price is $40.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.08, a PEG ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 0.85. CubeSmart has a 52-week low of $34.24 and a 52-week high of $55.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20.

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

CubeSmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. CubeSmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 120.93%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.