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

Shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $33.14.

Several brokerages have commented on CUZ. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

CUZ opened at $30.24 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a PE ratio of 91.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.01. Cousins Properties has a 1 year low of $21.58 and a 1 year high of $32.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last issued 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 last year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Cousins Properties will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cousins Properties

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,534 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Cousins Properties by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in Cousins Properties by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 133,620 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,093,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Cousins Properties by 130.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,514 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.