Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Raises Stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) by 40.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,241 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 13,050 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC's holdings in Cousins Properties were worth $1,386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Cousins Properties by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 44,154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,353,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,351 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 67.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 981 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,667 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $695,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The raised its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 7,393 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CUZ shares. Wolfe Research upgraded 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 report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Cousins Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.60.

Cousins Properties Trading Down 2.2%

NYSE CUZ traded down $0.64 on Monday, hitting $28.02. 1,639,949 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,255,831. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.34. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 52-week low of $22.01 and a 52-week high of $32.55.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $6.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.49 million. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 1.00%. Cousins Properties's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio is currently 387.88%.

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.