Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Stake Raised by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Cousins Properties were worth $1,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 1,609.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 923 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Cousins Properties during the fourth quarter worth $85,000. FIL Ltd increased its position in Cousins Properties by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Cousins Properties by 473.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,301 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 3,551 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

Cousins Properties Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE:CUZ opened at $28.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.33. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a twelve month low of $24.02 and a twelve month high of $32.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $29.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.49 million. Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.15% and a net margin of 5.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.54%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 387.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CUZ has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Truist Financial cut Cousins Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded Cousins Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cousins Properties has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.50.

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.