HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 933 Shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 8.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,369 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 933 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cousins Properties were worth $372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Cousins Properties by 49.7% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,319 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 30.8% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Cousins Properties in the second quarter worth $115,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 168.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 2,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in Cousins Properties by 74.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836 shares in the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

Shares of CUZ opened at $30.24 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a PE ratio of 91.64, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.01. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $21.58 and a fifty-two week high of $32.55.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last posted 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 net margin of 6.17% and a return on equity of 1.14%. The company had revenue of $209.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. Cousins Properties’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.23%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 387.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CUZ. KeyCorp upgraded Cousins Properties from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Cousins Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.14.

Cousins Properties 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.