Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its stake in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) by 64.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 107,858 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 194,221 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.07% of Cousins Properties worth $3,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Cousins Properties by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,802,104 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $759,936,000 after acquiring an additional 985,934 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Cousins Properties by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,491,300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $413,375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,350,352 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,600,905 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $171,612,000 after buying an additional 585,659 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Cousins Properties by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,072,221 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $94,160,000 after acquiring an additional 208,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Cousins Properties by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,875,490 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $88,105,000 after acquiring an additional 538,074 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CUZ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho raised Cousins Properties from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Cousins Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Cousins Properties from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.70.

Cousins Properties Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE CUZ traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $26.44. 914,332 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,260,004. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 88.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.24. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 52-week low of $22.01 and a 52-week high of $32.55. 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $28.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.93.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts forecast that Cousins Properties Incorporated 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 paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.84%. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 426.67%.

Cousins Properties 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.