Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday.

CUZ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Mizuho raised Cousins Properties from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Cousins Properties in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.89.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CUZ opened at $29.83 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a PE ratio of 99.44, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s fifty day moving average is $29.93 and its 200 day moving average is $30.17. Cousins Properties has a 52 week low of $21.58 and a 52 week high of $32.55.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 1.00% and a net margin of 5.36%. Research analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cousins Properties’s payout ratio is presently 426.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cousins Properties

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CUZ. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties during the 4th quarter valued at $11,456,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in 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 worth $3,830,000 after acquiring an additional 76,000 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cousins Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $793,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Cousins Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 294,645 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,028,000 after purchasing an additional 19,831 shares during the last quarter. 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.