25,874 Shares in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Purchased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 25,874 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $793,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GRS Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties during the fourth quarter worth about $63,759,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 257,783 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $7,898,000 after acquiring an additional 19,512 shares during the last quarter. Expect Equity LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties during the fourth quarter worth about $3,872,000. FJ Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties during the fourth quarter worth about $280,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 110,867 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,397,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CUZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Cousins Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded Cousins Properties from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Cousins Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.60.

Cousins Properties Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE CUZ traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $27.28. 192,167 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,254,734. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a twelve month low of $22.01 and a twelve month high of $32.55. The company has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of 90.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.34. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $27.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.54.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.03. Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.00% and a net margin of 5.36%. The firm had revenue of $6.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.69%. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio is presently 387.88%.

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.