Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,147,443 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 78,986 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.73% of Cousins Properties worth $35,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CUZ. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 624,016 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,120,000 after purchasing an additional 11,656 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 155.1% in the fourth quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 125,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,830,000 after buying an additional 76,000 shares in the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management US LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties in the 4th quarter valued at $256,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Cousins Properties by 164.6% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 82,220 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,519,000 after acquiring an additional 51,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Cousins Properties during the 4th quarter valued at about $313,000. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CUZ shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Cousins Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research raised Cousins Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.70.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

NYSE CUZ opened at $26.08 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.03. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a PE ratio of 86.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.24. Cousins Properties Incorporated 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 0.64, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.62. Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.00% and a net margin of 5.36%. As a group, analysts expect that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.91%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 426.67%.

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.