Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 15.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,011 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,283 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Cousins Properties were worth $2,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 67.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 49.7% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,319 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Cousins Properties by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,667 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $695,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Cousins Properties by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 56,824 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,741,000 after buying an additional 829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Cousins Properties by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,897 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $610,000 after buying an additional 853 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

Shares of CUZ stock opened at $28.68 on Monday. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 52-week low of $21.58 and a 52-week high of $32.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.15.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 426.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on CUZ. KeyCorp upgraded Cousins Properties from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $33.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com cut Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cousins Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

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.