Analysts Set Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) PT at $33.11

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are covering the firm, 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 price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.22.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CUZ. BMO Capital Markets cut Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Cousins Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on Cousins Properties from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

Cousins Properties stock opened at $30.13 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.89. 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 cap of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.31, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.29. Cousins Properties 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $209.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Cousins Properties will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 387.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cousins Properties

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CUZ. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Cousins Properties by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Cousins Properties by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 452,191 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,468,000 after buying an additional 2,972 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Cousins Properties by 98.1% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,310 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after buying an additional 32,336 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Cousins Properties by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 42,573 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $986,000 after buying an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Cousins Properties by 46.4% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 6,086 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 1,928 shares during the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.