Expect Equity LLC Acquires New Position in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Expect Equity LLC purchased a new position in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 126,355 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $3,872,000. Cousins Properties makes up approximately 4.1% of Expect Equity LLC's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Expect Equity LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Cousins Properties at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,802,104 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $759,936,000 after buying an additional 985,934 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cousins Properties by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,491,300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $413,375,000 after buying an additional 1,350,352 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. raised its holdings in Cousins Properties by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 7,853,306 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $240,625,000 after buying an additional 19,657 shares during the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Cousins Properties by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,600,905 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $171,612,000 after buying an additional 585,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Cousins Properties by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,072,221 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $94,160,000 after buying an additional 208,044 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Cousins Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.70.

Cousins Properties Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:CUZ traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $28.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 655,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,247,365. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $27.95 and a 200-day moving average of $29.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.43, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 12-month low of $22.01 and a 12-month high of $32.55.

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

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

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

Cousins Properties Company 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.