Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.11.

A number of brokerages have commented on CUZ. KeyCorp raised shares of Cousins Properties from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th.

Institutional Trading of Cousins Properties

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake 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 period. Quarry LP increased its position in Cousins Properties by 74.5% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,976 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,543 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

Cousins Properties Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE CUZ opened at $30.12 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.54. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.29. Cousins Properties has a 52-week low of $21.58 and a 52-week high of $32.55.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. Cousins Properties’s payout ratio is currently 387.88%.

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.