CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) Shares Purchased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE - Free Report) by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 319,316 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 36,919 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.14% of CubeSmart worth $15,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in CubeSmart by 136.9% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 559 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in CubeSmart by 302.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 591 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in CubeSmart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in CubeSmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in CubeSmart by 195.6% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,144 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of CubeSmart from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on CubeSmart from $53.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on CubeSmart from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on CubeSmart from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of CubeSmart from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $53.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.36.

CubeSmart Trading Up 2.2 %

CubeSmart stock traded up $0.92 during trading on Friday, reaching $42.66. The company had a trading volume of 4,089,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,364,408. CubeSmart has a 12-month low of $39.80 and a 12-month high of $55.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $48.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 0.84.

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.24). CubeSmart had a net margin of 37.79% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The company had revenue of $270.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $267.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that CubeSmart will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CubeSmart Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.52 dividend. This is a positive change from CubeSmart's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. CubeSmart's payout ratio is currently 117.51%.

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.