Analysts Set Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) PT at $33.11

Shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $33.22.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CUZ. KeyCorp upgraded Cousins Properties from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $33.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

Cousins Properties stock opened at $29.49 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Cousins Properties has a 1-year low of $21.58 and a 1-year high of $32.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 89.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.29.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.60). Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.14% and a net margin of 6.17%. The business had revenue of $209.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Cousins Properties will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.34%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 387.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cousins Properties

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Cousins Properties by 27.9% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 0.7% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 452,191 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,468,000 after buying an additional 2,972 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Cousins Properties by 98.1% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,310 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after buying an additional 32,336 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Cousins Properties by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 42,573 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $986,000 after buying an additional 862 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 46.4% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 6,086 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,928 shares during the period. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.