Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,372,716 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 135,031 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Cousins Properties were worth $42,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 3,768.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,337,416 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,907,000 after acquiring an additional 2,276,986 shares during the period. Rush Island Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Cousins Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,393,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,491,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $413,375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,350,352 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 411.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,113,403 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,823,000 after acquiring an additional 895,917 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Cousins Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at $20,276,000. 94.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cousins Properties Trading Down 2.6 %

CUZ stock opened at $29.00 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 52-week low of $21.58 and a 52-week high of $32.55. The firm has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.66, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. Cousins Properties’s payout ratio is currently 426.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CUZ has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $33.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $31.00 to $32.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp raised shares of Cousins Properties from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cousins Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

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.