Reviewing Cousins Properties (CUZ) & Its Peers

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) is one of 59 public companies in the “Office REITs” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Cousins Properties to related companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

94.4% of Cousins Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.3% of shares of all “Office REITs” companies are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Cousins Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of shares of all “Office REITs” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Cousins Properties has a beta of 1.17, indicating that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cousins Properties’ competitors have a beta of 1.02, indicating that their average stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Cousins Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Cousins Properties pays out 1,422.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Office REITs” companies pay a dividend yield of 4.9% and pay out -502.0% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Cousins Properties lags its competitors as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Cousins Properties and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cousins Properties	0	2	7	0	2.78
Cousins Properties Competitors	944	2830	2689	25	2.28

Cousins Properties currently has a consensus price target of $31.50, indicating a potential upside of 5.42%. As a group, “Office REITs” companies have a potential upside of 3.52%. Given Cousins Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Cousins Properties is more favorable than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares Cousins Properties and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cousins Properties	1.42%	0.33%	0.17%
Cousins Properties Competitors	-17.75%	-7.48%	-0.23%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Cousins Properties and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cousins Properties	$993.82 million	$40.50 million	332.00
Cousins Properties Competitors	$530.03 million	-$49.56 million	14.10

Cousins Properties has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. Cousins Properties is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Cousins Properties beats its competitors on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

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. Founded in 1958, Cousins creates shareholder value through its extensive expertise in the development, acquisition, leasing, and management of high-quality real estate assets. The Company has a comprehensive strategy in place based on a simple platform, trophy assets, and opportunistic investments.