Short Interest in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Grows By 9.5%

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,680,000 shares, an increase of 9.5% from the May 15th total of 3,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,250,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Gregg D. Adzema sold 71,097 shares of Cousins Properties stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.31, for a total value of $1,657,271.07. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 85,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,001,676.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cousins Properties

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CUZ. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cousins Properties in the 4th quarter worth about $35,502,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Cousins Properties by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,208,784 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $297,284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407,164 shares in the last quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC bought a new position in Cousins Properties in the 4th quarter worth about $32,105,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Cousins Properties by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,781,184 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $67,722,000 after purchasing an additional 916,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Cousins Properties by 75.6% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,917,908 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $46,107,000 after purchasing an additional 825,547 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CUZ shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.67.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

Shares of CUZ stock opened at $23.29 on Wednesday. Cousins Properties has a 12 month low of $17.40 and a 12 month high of $25.19. The stock has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 47.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $23.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.25.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.54). Cousins Properties had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 1.62%. The business had revenue of $209.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Cousins Properties will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.