Liberty Mutual Group Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Liberty Mutual Group Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 68,848 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the quarter. Liberty Mutual Group Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Cousins Properties were worth $1,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Cousins Properties in the 4th quarter valued at $35,502,000. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Cousins Properties by 100.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 261,192 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,360,000 after purchasing an additional 131,054 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in Cousins Properties by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 403,193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,818,000 after purchasing an additional 27,788 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 381,672 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,294,000 after buying an additional 7,409 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 514,719 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,533,000 after buying an additional 5,533 shares during the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

NYSE:CUZ opened at $29.50 on Friday. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 52 week low of $17.40 and a 52 week high of $30.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 1.31.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.61). The company had revenue of $212.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.18 million. Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.31% and a net margin of 7.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 261.22%.

Insider Activity

In other Cousins Properties news, CAO Jeffrey D. Symes sold 5,997 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.13, for a total value of $168,695.61. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,529 shares in the company, valued at $352,440.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Cousins Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays increased their price target on Cousins Properties from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.29.

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.