Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Boosts Stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 27.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Cousins Properties were worth $331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Cousins Properties in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake 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 valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cousins Properties in the 1st quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Cousins Properties during the first quarter worth $184,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In other Cousins Properties news, CAO Jeffrey D. Symes sold 5,997 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.13, for a total transaction of $168,695.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $352,440.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

NYSE CUZ opened at $29.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $27.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 1.31. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $17.40 and a fifty-two week high of $29.88.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.61). Cousins Properties had a net margin of 7.25% and a return on equity of 1.31%. The firm had revenue of $212.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.75 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.29%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 261.22%.

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.