Marshall Wace LLP Boosts Stock Position in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 92.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 853,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 410,726 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Cousins Properties were worth $19,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CUZ. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Cousins Properties by 130.8% during the 2nd 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. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Cousins Properties by 3,236.7% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Cousins Properties in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties in the 1st quarter worth $184,000. Institutional investors own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

Cousins Properties Stock Down 0.8 %

CUZ opened at $29.29 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.79. The company has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 59.77, a PEG ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 1.31. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 1-year low of $17.40 and a 1-year 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.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.61). Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.31% and a net margin of 7.25%. 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 business posted $2.75 earnings per share. Cousins Properties’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 261.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CUZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on Cousins Properties from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.29.

Insider Activity at Cousins Properties

In other Cousins Properties news, CAO Jeffrey D. Symes sold 5,997 shares of Cousins Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.13, for a total transaction of $168,695.61. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $352,440.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.