Short Interest in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Increases By 47.9%

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,570,000 shares, a growth of 47.9% from the January 31st total of 3,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Cousins Properties Trading Down 2.6 %

CUZ stock traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,080,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,318,536. 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 $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.66, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.62. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 1.00%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cousins Properties will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 426.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Cousins Properties during the 4th quarter valued at $11,456,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 155.1% during the fourth quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 125,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,830,000 after buying an additional 76,000 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties in the fourth quarter valued at about $793,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Cousins Properties in the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in Cousins Properties by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 294,645 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,028,000 after acquiring an additional 19,831 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CUZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

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.