Legal & General Group Plc Sells 179,984 Shares of CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in shares of CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE - Free Report) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,317,393 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 179,984 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.58% of CubeSmart worth $56,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CUBE. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of CubeSmart by 74.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 675 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in CubeSmart by 134.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 679 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in CubeSmart by 9,614.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 680 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of CubeSmart by 59.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 942 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. 97.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CubeSmart Price Performance

NYSE CUBE traded up $1.26 during trading on Thursday, hitting $39.73. 186,276 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,432,183. The company has a market capitalization of $9.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 0.85. CubeSmart has a 12-month low of $34.24 and a 12-month high of $55.14. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.23. CubeSmart had a net margin of 37.79% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The firm had revenue of $231.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.54 million. As a group, analysts predict that CubeSmart will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

CubeSmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. CubeSmart's dividend payout ratio is currently 120.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of CubeSmart from $50.00 to $44.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. KeyCorp upgraded CubeSmart from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $47.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of CubeSmart from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Truist Financial upgraded shares of CubeSmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their target price for the company from $50.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays dropped 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 note on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $47.31.

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.