Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.70.

Several brokerages recently commented on CUZ. Mizuho raised shares of Cousins Properties from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com lowered Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Cousins Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CUZ opened at $26.82 on Friday. Cousins Properties has a twelve month low of $22.01 and a twelve month high of $32.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $28.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 89.41, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.24.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.62. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 1.00%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 426.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Cousins Properties by 1,609.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 923 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Cousins Properties by 67.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Cousins Properties during the fourth quarter valued at $85,000. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in Cousins Properties by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 473.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,301 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 3,551 shares during the period. 94.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.