Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $1.76 Million Stock Position in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,331 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,869 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cousins Properties were worth $1,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in Cousins Properties by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 70,760 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,168,000 after purchasing an additional 4,580 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its position in Cousins Properties by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,085,304 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,254,000 after buying an additional 76,168 shares during the period. APG Asset Management US Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 7,853,306 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $240,625,000 after buying an additional 19,657 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,148,000. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P grew its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 133,757 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,098,000 after acquiring an additional 16,779 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

CUZ stock opened at $26.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.01. Cousins Properties Incorporated 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 EPS 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 426.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on CUZ. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Cousins Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. KeyCorp upgraded Cousins Properties from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded Cousins Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cousins Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.70.

Cousins Properties 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.