CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) Increases Dividend to $0.52 Per Share

CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 17th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.52 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This is an increase from CubeSmart’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51.

CubeSmart has raised its dividend by an average of 14.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 14 years. CubeSmart has a dividend payout ratio of 115.9% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect CubeSmart to earn $2.70 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 75.6%.

CubeSmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CUBE traded down $0.35 on Tuesday, reaching $45.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,091,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,346,906. CubeSmart has a 52-week low of $39.80 and a 52-week high of $55.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $48.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.49. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CubeSmart will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of CubeSmart from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of CubeSmart from $53.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of CubeSmart from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays dropped their target price on CubeSmart from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on CubeSmart from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.36.

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.