Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Thursday.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on CUZ. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $32.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on 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 raised their target price on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $33.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.11.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

Cousins Properties stock opened at $28.54 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.73. Cousins Properties has a 12 month low of $21.58 and a 12 month high of $32.55. The company has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.48, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.29. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 6.17% and a return on equity of 1.14%. The firm had revenue of $209.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cousins Properties will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors 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 yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 387.88%.

Institutional Trading of Cousins Properties

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Cousins Properties by 49.7% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,319 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Cousins Properties in the 2nd quarter worth about $115,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 74.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,976 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 168.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 2,543 shares in the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.