Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Nine brokerages rate Cousins Properties a "Moderate Buy" (6 buy, 2 hold, 1 sell) with an average 12‑month price target of $28.73.
• Quarterly results: The REIT beat expectations with $0.73 EPS (vs. $0.06 consensus) and $263.1M revenue, and set FY2026 guidance of $2.90–2.98 EPS (analysts foresee ~2.93).
• Capital actions and ownership: The board approved a $250M share buyback (~6.6% of shares), institutional investors hold about 94.4% of the stock, and the company pays a $0.32 quarterly dividend (≈5.1% yield) despite a very high payout ratio (533%).

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.7273.

Several equities analysts recently commented on CUZ shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Cousins Properties from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $33.00 price target on shares of Cousins Properties in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Cousins Properties in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Cousins Properties in a research report on Friday, February 6th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cousins Properties

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CUZ. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Cousins Properties during the second quarter worth about $902,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 55.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Cousins Properties during the second quarter worth about $3,723,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 40.8% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 110,926 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,331,000 after purchasing an additional 32,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 8.6% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 286,452 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,602,000 after purchasing an additional 22,741 shares during the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cousins Properties Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE CUZ opened at $25.06 on Thursday. Cousins Properties has a 12-month low of $21.03 and a 12-month high of $30.81. The company has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a PE ratio of 104.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm's 50-day moving average is $23.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.77.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.67. The business had revenue of $263.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.45 million. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 4.08% and a return on equity of 0.85%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. Cousins Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-2.980 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 7th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 7th. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 533.33%.

Cousins Properties announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 17th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 6.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Cousins Properties Company Profile

Cousins Properties Incorporated NYSE: CUZ is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in the development, acquisition and management of high-quality office and mixed-use properties. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company focuses on urban infill and suburban markets across the Sun Belt, with a strong presence in metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Nashville, Orlando and Tampa. Its core activities encompass full-service property leasing, asset management and construction oversight, serving a diverse mix of corporate and institutional tenants.

Founded in 1958 as a privately held real estate concern, Cousins Properties completed its initial public offering in 1992.

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