American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 487,859 Shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated $CUZ

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. significantly increased its stake in Cousins Properties, acquiring 487,859 shares, bringing their total holdings to 513,358 shares valued at approximately $15.1 million.
• The company reported a 12.7% year-over-year revenue increase with earnings per share of $0.70, meeting analysts' expectations for the quarter.
• Cousins Properties declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 4.5%, although the dividend payout ratio is notably high at 345.95%.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) by 1,913.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 513,358 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 487,859 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of Cousins Properties worth $15,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings 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 valued at $759,735,000 after buying an additional 951,637 shares in the last quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd bought a new position in Cousins Properties in the 4th quarter valued at $135,094,000. Rush Island Management LP boosted its holdings in Cousins Properties by 91.4% in the 4th quarter. Rush Island Management LP now owns 3,011,843 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $92,283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,438,127 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Cousins Properties by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,505,910 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $76,781,000 after purchasing an additional 172,094 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Cousins Properties by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,334,159 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $68,858,000 after purchasing an additional 132,653 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Evercore ISI increased 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, May 19th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.40.

Cousins Properties Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:CUZ traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $29.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 507,595 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,484,647. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.20, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $28.42 and a 200-day moving average of $28.52. Cousins Properties Incorporated 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.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $237.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $243.73 million. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 1.27%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. Cousins Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.790-2.850 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 Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 345.95%.

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.