Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.50.

A number of research firms have recently commented on CUZ. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cousins Properties news, CAO Jeffrey D. Symes sold 5,997 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $352,440.77. The trade was a 32.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cousins Properties

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 2.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,353,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $561,412,000 after purchasing an additional 456,251 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,140,948 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $357,910,000 after purchasing an additional 458,387 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Cousins Properties by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,606,870 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $224,251,000 after acquiring an additional 48,668 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Cousins Properties by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,864,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $84,457,000 after acquiring an additional 36,727 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Cousins Properties by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,488,358 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $73,357,000 after acquiring an additional 82,521 shares in the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

NYSE CUZ opened at $31.10 on Thursday. Cousins Properties has a 52 week low of $19.45 and a 52 week high of $32.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.24, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $30.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.82.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.60). Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.14% and a net margin of 6.17%. The firm had revenue of $209.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 3rd. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 387.88%.

Cousins Properties Company Profile

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.