Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 265,125 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 102,518 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.17% of Cousins Properties worth $8,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 36.6% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 31,660 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 8,479 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Cousins Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at about $227,000. TCW Group Inc. acquired a new position in Cousins Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,274,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties during the 3rd quarter worth about $208,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,864,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $84,457,000 after acquiring an additional 36,727 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

NYSE:CUZ opened at $30.24 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.29. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 1 year low of $21.58 and a 1 year high of $32.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.03 and a 200-day moving average of $28.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.60). Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.14% and a net margin of 6.17%. The business had revenue of $209.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. Cousins Properties’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 387.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CUZ. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. 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 note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Cousins Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cousins Properties presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.14.

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.