Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.89.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CUZ shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Cousins Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp upgraded 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

Shares of CUZ stock opened at $30.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.23. 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 cap of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 100.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.28. Cousins Properties has a 1 year low of $21.58 and a 1 year high of $32.55.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cousins Properties will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 426.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CUZ. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Cousins Properties by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 44,154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Cousins Properties by 49.7% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,319 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Cousins Properties by 2.2% in the fourth 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 period. 94.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.