American International Group Inc. Lowers Position in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

American International Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 205,008 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 8,823 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc. owned about 0.14% of Cousins Properties worth $4,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC acquired a new position in Cousins Properties during the 4th quarter worth about $32,105,000. Comerica Bank lifted its stake in Cousins Properties by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 74,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,803,000 after acquiring an additional 1,712 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Cousins Properties by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 808,096 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,677,000 after acquiring an additional 98,333 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Cousins Properties by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,781,184 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $67,722,000 after acquiring an additional 916,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Cousins Properties during the 4th quarter worth about $1,140,000. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CUZ shares. Barclays reduced their price target on Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com raised Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.67.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CUZ opened at $23.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $17.40 and a fifty-two week high of $25.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 47.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.26.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.54). Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.62% and a net margin of 9.15%. The business had revenue of $209.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.35 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. Cousins Properties’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.53%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 261.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Gregg D. Adzema sold 71,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.31, for a total transaction of $1,657,271.07. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 85,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,001,676.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.