Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

CUZ has been the subject of several other reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.40.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

NYSE CUZ opened at $29.48 on Friday. Cousins Properties has a 52-week low of $24.07 and a 52-week high of $32.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a current ratio of 2.45. The company has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.31 and a 200-day moving average of $28.48.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 1.27%. The company had revenue of $237.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Cousins Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.790-2.850 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cousins Properties will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Cousins Properties news, CAO Jeffrey D. Symes sold 4,612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.30, for a total value of $135,131.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 13,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $396,077.40. The trade was a 25.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cousins Properties

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 3.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,753,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $759,735,000 after acquiring an additional 951,637 shares during the period. Resolution Capital Ltd increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 0.6% in the second quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd now owns 5,919,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $177,754,000 after acquiring an additional 33,097 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 51.5% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,535,111 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $106,159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,952 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 0.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,308,911 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $99,380,000 after acquiring an additional 12,039 shares during the period. Finally, Rush Island Management LP increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 91.4% in the fourth quarter. Rush Island Management LP now owns 3,011,843 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $92,283,000 after acquiring an additional 1,438,127 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

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.