Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $33.11.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CUZ shares. Barclays dropped their price target on Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp upgraded Cousins Properties from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Cousins Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th.

Institutional Trading of Cousins Properties

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Cousins Properties by 1,609.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 923 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Cousins Properties by 67.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Cousins Properties by 49.7% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,319 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Cousins Properties by 30.8% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in Cousins Properties by 74.5% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,976 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,697 shares during the period. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CUZ opened at $30.52 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. Cousins Properties has a fifty-two week low of $21.58 and a fifty-two week high of $32.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a PE ratio of 101.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.74.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.62. Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.03% and a net margin of 5.36%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cousins Properties will post 2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 426.67%.

Cousins Properties Company Profile

Cousins Properties Incorporated ("Cousins") is a fully integrated, self-administered, and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company, based in Atlanta and acting through its operating partnership, Cousins Properties LP, primarily invests in Class A office buildings located in high-growth Sun Belt markets.