Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Shares Bought by Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) by 30.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,474,889 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 343,375 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.93% of Cousins Properties worth $45,191,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Cousins Properties by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 44,154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Cousins Properties by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,667 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $695,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The increased its stake in Cousins Properties by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 7,393 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position 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 during the period. 94.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CUZ. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Cousins Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Cousins Properties from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.70.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

Cousins Properties stock traded down $0.23 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.15. The company had a trading volume of 549,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,243,918. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $28.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 90.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.24. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 1-year low of $22.01 and a 1-year high of $32.55.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.62. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 1.00%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid 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 4.71%. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 426.67%.

Cousins Properties Company Profile

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.