Virtu Financial LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE)

Virtu Financial LLC reduced its position in CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) by 52.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,556 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in CubeSmart were worth $213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in CubeSmart by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,371 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CubeSmart by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 32,614 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of CubeSmart by 4.5% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,734 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in CubeSmart by 74.9% during 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 period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in CubeSmart by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 53,212 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,280,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.61% of the company’s stock.

CubeSmart Stock Performance

Shares of CubeSmart stock opened at $42.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 0.88. CubeSmart has a 12 month low of $39.80 and a 12 month high of $55.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.83.

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $231.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.54 million. CubeSmart had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 37.79%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CubeSmart will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CubeSmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.95%. CubeSmart’s payout ratio is 120.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CUBE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised CubeSmart from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp raised shares of CubeSmart from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Barclays cut their target price on CubeSmart from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on CubeSmart from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.00.

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.