Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.67 EPS

Key Points

• Cousins Properties reported Q earnings of $0.73 EPS, beating the $0.06 consensus and posting revenue of $263.1M (up 7.4% y/y), and updated FY2026 guidance to 2.900–2.980 EPS.
• Shares fell about 2.1% to $25.06 despite the beat; the stock has a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $28.73 target amid several recent price-target cuts.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.32 (a 5.1% yield) but carries a very high reported payout ratio of 533.33%, and its board authorized a $250 million buyback plan to repurchase up to 6.6% of shares.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.67, Zacks reports. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 4.08% and a return on equity of 0.85%. The company had revenue of $263.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Cousins Properties updated its FY 2026 guidance to 2.900-2.980 EPS.

Cousins Properties Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:CUZ traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.06. The stock had a trading volume of 2,263,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,160,364. The company has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.42, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.18. Cousins Properties has a 12 month low of $21.03 and a 12 month high of $30.81. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $23.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 7th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 7th. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio is presently 533.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CUZ shares. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Cousins Properties in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Cousins Properties in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.73.

Institutional Trading of Cousins Properties

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 308.9% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,175,415 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $133,422,000 after acquiring an additional 3,909,740 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 153.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,170,386 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $91,751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,918,393 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 984.5% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,542,384 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $39,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400,164 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in Cousins Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,341,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Cousins Properties by 1,369.1% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 905,831 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,215,000 after purchasing an additional 844,171 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.38% of the company's stock.

Cousins Properties declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 17th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 6.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign 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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