Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) to Buy

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) was upgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $36.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $33.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 17.84% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com raised Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $32.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.50.

Cousins Properties Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:CUZ opened at $30.55 on Thursday. Cousins Properties has a 1 year low of $21.58 and a 1 year high of $32.55. The business has a fifty day moving average of $30.88 and a 200-day moving average of $28.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.58, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.29.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last announced its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $209.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.54 million. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 6.17% and a return on equity of 1.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Cousins Properties will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cousins Properties

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 3.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,140,948 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $357,910,000 after purchasing an additional 458,387 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Cousins Properties by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,606,870 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $224,251,000 after buying an additional 48,668 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,864,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $84,457,000 after buying an additional 36,727 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,488,358 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $73,357,000 after buying an additional 82,521 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 3,768.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,337,416 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,907,000 after acquiring an additional 2,276,986 shares in the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.