Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Cousins Properties from “strong sell” to “sell,” while broader analyst sentiment remains Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $28.73.
• The REIT reported Q1 earnings of -$0.15 per share, missing expectations, though revenue rose 7.4% year over year to $263.11 million and topped estimates.
• Cousins Properties also authorized a $250 million share buyback, and institutional ownership remains high at 94.38% after several large investors increased their stakes.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on CUZ. Robert W. Baird set a $33.00 target price on shares of Cousins Properties in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cousins Properties has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.73.

Cousins Properties Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Cousins Properties stock opened at $28.98 on Friday. Cousins Properties has a 12-month low of $21.03 and a 12-month high of $30.80. The company has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -965.51, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company's 50-day moving average price is $25.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.97.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.21). Cousins Properties had a negative return on equity of 0.11% and a negative net margin of 0.52%.The firm had revenue of $263.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $256.77 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Cousins Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-2.980 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Cousins Properties will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 17th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 6.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Cousins Properties by 63.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,124,141 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $25,372,000 after acquiring an additional 436,396 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Cousins Properties by 6.5% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 96,454 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,177,000 after acquiring an additional 5,866 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Cousins Properties by 23.3% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,248 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Cousins Properties by 27.8% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 202,530 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,571,000 after acquiring an additional 44,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Cousins Properties by 211.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 98,028 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 66,585 shares during the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Cousins Properties

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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