25,874 Shares in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Bought by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 25,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $793,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 44,154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,351 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 67.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,667 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $695,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The grew its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 7,393 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

Cousins Properties stock opened at $28.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.90, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.34. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 52-week low of $22.01 and a 52-week high of $32.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $27.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

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

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Cousins Properties’s payout ratio is 387.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CUZ shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Cousins Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Cousins Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reduced 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. StockNews.com upgraded Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.70.

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.