CubeSmart is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust. CubeSmart owns or manages 1,514 self-storage properties across the United States. According to the 2025 Self Storage Almanac, CubeSmart is one of the top three owners and operators of self-storage properties in the U.S. The Company's mission is to simplify the organizational and logistical challenges created by the many life …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
Dividend Well-Covered by AFFODividend coverage is healthy (score 0.61).
Key risks
Elevated Leverage RiskLeverage is elevated (score 0.37), raising refinancing risk.
Volatile Occupancy/NOINOI volatility is high (stability 0.43), raising occupancy concerns.
The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks
against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.
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CubeSmart ranks #11 of 18
scored companies in REIT - Industrial by moat score — the top 61%.
The widest moat in the group is Terreno Realty Corporation (TRNO)
at 81/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near CUBE in REIT - Industrial
For a REIT, pricing power is the ability to raise rents at renewal and still keep the space occupied.
AFFO Strength
Score 53
· 18% of the moat score
AFFO — adjusted funds from operations — is the cash a REIT can actually distribute after the recurring capital spending buildings need in order to stay leasable.
Balance Sheet & Cost of Capital
Score 49
· 20% of the moat score
Real estate is bought with borrowed money, so a REIT's cost of capital is its competitive advantage.
Capital Recycling & Growth
Score 43
· 16% of the moat score
REITs grow by issuing shares and debt to buy more property, which creates value only when the yield on the asset exceeds the cost of the capital raised.
Operational Efficiency
Score 52
· 14% of the moat score
Running property — leasing, maintenance, taxes, management — is the part of the business a REIT genuinely controls.
Portfolio Quality & Diversification
Score 41
· 12% of the moat score
Portfolio quality is really a question about what happens when a tenant fails.
CubeSmart (CUBE) scores 48 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #11 of 18 scored companies in REIT - Industrial, the top 61%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 23 companies in REIT - Industrial. Its strongest defense is AFFO Strength (53/100) and its weakest is Portfolio Quality & Diversification (41/100).
How does CubeSmart compare with other REIT - Industrial companies?
CubeSmart ranks #11 of 18 scored companies in REIT - Industrial by moat score. The widest moat in REIT - Industrial is Terreno Realty Corporation (TRNO) at 81/100. The companies ranked closest are Extra Space Storage Inc (EXR) at 50 just above it and Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. (REXR) at 38 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — REIT Specialized in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 23 companies in REIT - Industrial. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is CubeSmart scored with the REIT Specialized template?
A REIT is a portfolio of buildings financed with debt and required to distribute most of its taxable income. Reported earnings are dominated by depreciation on assets that often appreciate, so net income says very little; the real question is how much cash the properties distribute, and how securely. The REIT template scores what determines that: rent pricing, distributable cash, cost of capital, and the discipline behind growth.
Which competitive defenses are measured for CubeSmart?
The REIT Specialized template measures 6 defenses, and CUBE scores: Rent Pricing Power (50), AFFO Strength (53), Balance Sheet & Cost of Capital (49), Capital Recycling & Growth (43), Operational Efficiency (52), Portfolio Quality & Diversification (41). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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