8,272 Shares in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Acquired by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. purchased a new stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CUZ. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings 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 worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Cousins Properties by 49.7% in the 3rd 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. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Cousins Properties by 74.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,976 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,697 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties during the fourth quarter worth $142,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 22.5% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,892 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Cousins Properties from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cousins Properties currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

Shares of Cousins Properties stock opened at $29.80 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $30.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.32, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 52 week low of $21.58 and a 52 week high of $32.55.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.62. Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.00% and a net margin of 5.36%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 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.