Short Interest in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Declines By 15.4%

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,300,000 shares, a drop of 15.4% from the September 15th total of 3,900,000 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,150,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Cousins Properties Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CUZ traded up $0.71 during trading on Monday, hitting $30.27. 860,851 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,318,704. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $28.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.22. Cousins Properties has a 52 week low of $17.40 and a 52 week high of $30.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 1.30.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Cousins Properties had a net margin of 7.25% and a return on equity of 1.31%. The company had revenue of $212.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cousins Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors 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 yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 261.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jeffrey D. Symes sold 5,997 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $352,440.77. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cousins Properties

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Cousins Properties by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,896,977 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $557,541,000 after purchasing an additional 216,657 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its position in Cousins Properties by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 22,853 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 8,576 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 14.0% during the first quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 20,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties in the first quarter valued at about $184,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Cousins Properties by 184.2% during the first quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 38,760 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $932,000 after acquiring an additional 25,121 shares during the period. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CUZ shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Cousins Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Evercore ISI upped 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

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.