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

Key Points

• Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from twelve ratings firms, with an average 1-year price target of $32.91.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. recently increased their price target for the company from $35.00 to $37.00, while Truist Financial lowered it from $31.00 to $30.00.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, translating to an annual yield of 4.8%, despite a payout ratio of 345.95%.

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $32.9091.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cousins Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cousins Properties in a research note on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jeffrey D. Symes sold 4,612 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.30, for a total transaction of $135,131.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 13,518 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $396,077.40. The trade was a 25.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cousins Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Cousins Properties by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,753,741 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $759,735,000 after buying an additional 951,637 shares in the last quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd grew its stake in Cousins Properties by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd now owns 5,919,230 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $177,754,000 after buying an additional 33,097 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Cousins Properties by 51.5% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,535,111 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $106,159,000 after buying an additional 1,200,952 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Cousins Properties by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,308,911 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $99,380,000 after buying an additional 12,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP grew its stake in Cousins Properties by 40.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 2,759,950 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $82,881,000 after buying an additional 797,822 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.38% of the company's stock.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

NYSE CUZ opened at $26.61 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average is $28.35 and its 200-day moving average is $28.31. Cousins Properties has a 12-month low of $24.07 and a 12-month high of $32.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.39.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.70. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 1.27%. The company had revenue of $237.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.73 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Cousins Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.790-2.850 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Cousins Properties will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. Cousins Properties's payout ratio is currently 345.95%.

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.

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