CubeSmart (CUBE) Competitors

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) and AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, media sentiment, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings and dividends.

Is CUBE or AVB more profitable?

AvalonBay Communities has a net margin of 38.91% compared to CubeSmart's net margin of 35.44%. CubeSmart's return on equity of 13.12% beat AvalonBay Communities' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CubeSmart	35.44%	13.12%	5.76%
AvalonBay Communities	38.91%	9.70%	5.45%

Which has higher valuation and earnings, CUBE or AVB?

AvalonBay Communities has higher revenue and earnings than CubeSmart. AvalonBay Communities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CubeSmart, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CubeSmart	$1.09B	8.59	$391.18M	$1.64	25.14
AvalonBay Communities	$2.98B	9.33	$1.08B	$8.12	24.06

Is CUBE or AVB a better dividend stock?

CubeSmart pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. AvalonBay Communities pays an annual dividend of $7.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. CubeSmart pays out 126.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. AvalonBay Communities pays out 86.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. CubeSmart has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years and AvalonBay Communities has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. CubeSmart is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of CUBE or AVB?

97.6% of CubeSmart shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.6% of AvalonBay Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of CubeSmart shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of AvalonBay Communities shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, CUBE or AVB?

CubeSmart has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AvalonBay Communities has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to CUBE or AVB?

In the previous week, AvalonBay Communities had 11 more articles in the media than CubeSmart. MarketBeat recorded 25 mentions for AvalonBay Communities and 14 mentions for CubeSmart. AvalonBay Communities' average media sentiment score of 1.30 beat CubeSmart's score of 0.98 indicating that AvalonBay Communities is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
CubeSmart	11 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
AvalonBay Communities	17 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer CUBE or AVB?

CubeSmart currently has a consensus price target of $46.20, suggesting a potential upside of 12.05%. AvalonBay Communities has a consensus price target of $218.08, suggesting a potential upside of 11.62%. Given CubeSmart's higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe CubeSmart is more favorable than AvalonBay Communities.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CubeSmart	0 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.38
AvalonBay Communities	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.38

Summary

CubeSmart beats AvalonBay Communities on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.