Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Cousins Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Cousins Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.70.

Cousins Properties Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CUZ opened at $28.09 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.98 and a 200-day moving average of $29.67. Cousins Properties has a twelve month low of $22.01 and a twelve month high of $32.55.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.49 million. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 1.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 387.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new position in Cousins Properties in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 1,609.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 923 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Cousins Properties by 67.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Cousins Properties during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Cousins Properties by 579.7% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 2,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 2,313 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

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.