Legal & General Group Plc Purchases 107,284 Shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated $CUZ

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,253,338 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 107,284 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Cousins Properties were worth $32,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 555.2% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,375 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 14,723 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 40,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,634 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 72.2% in the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 24,064 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $620,000 after acquiring an additional 10,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 226.4% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,303 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 2,291 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

Cousins Properties Trading Up 0.2%

Cousins Properties stock opened at $26.85 on Friday. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 52 week low of $21.03 and a 52 week high of $30.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -894.77, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.79.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.21). Cousins Properties had a negative return on equity of 0.11% and a negative net margin of 0.52%.The business had revenue of $263.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.77 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Cousins Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-2.980 EPS. Analysts expect that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Cousins Properties declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 17th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to reacquire up to 6.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 7th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 7th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -4,266.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CUZ shares. Barclays lowered their target price on Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Cousins Properties from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $33.00 target price on Cousins Properties in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Cousins Properties in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.36.

Cousins Properties Profile

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE: CUZ) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in the development, acquisition and management of high-quality office and mixed-use properties. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company focuses on urban infill and suburban markets across the Sun Belt, with a strong presence in metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Nashville, Orlando and Tampa. Its core activities encompass full-service property leasing, asset management and construction oversight, serving a diverse mix of corporate and institutional tenants.

Founded in 1958 as a privately held real estate concern, Cousins Properties completed its initial public offering in 1992.