Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.67.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CUZ shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Cousins Properties from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 16th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Gregg D. Adzema sold 71,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.31, for a total value of $1,657,271.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 85,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,001,676.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cousins Properties in the fourth quarter valued at $35,502,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cousins Properties by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,208,784 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $297,284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407,164 shares during the last quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC bought a new position in Cousins Properties during the fourth quarter worth about $32,105,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Cousins Properties by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,781,184 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $67,722,000 after buying an additional 916,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Cousins Properties by 75.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,917,908 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $46,107,000 after buying an additional 825,547 shares during the period. 94.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

CUZ opened at $23.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 1.27. Cousins Properties has a 12 month low of $17.40 and a 12 month high of $25.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.32.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.54). Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.62% and a net margin of 9.15%. The business had revenue of $209.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Cousins Properties will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 4th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 261.22%.

About Cousins Properties

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.