Centersquare Investment Management LLC Sells 417,326 Shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Key Points

• Centersquare Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Cousins Properties by 7.5%, selling 417,326 shares to hold approximately 5.18 million shares, representing 1.6% of its total holdings.
• The stock price target for Cousins Properties has been adjusted by analysts, with Wells Fargo lowering it to $32.00 and Evercore ISI increasing it to $31.00.
• Cousins Properties declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 4.8%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 345.95%.

Centersquare Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) by 7.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,183,579 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 417,326 shares during the quarter. Cousins Properties comprises approximately 1.6% of Centersquare Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Centersquare Investment Management LLC owned 3.09% of Cousins Properties worth $152,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new stake in Cousins Properties in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $781,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 53.2% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 23,149 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 8,035 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 473.5% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,301 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 3,551 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 231,236 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,085,000 after buying an additional 11,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Cousins Properties by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 309,897 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $9,495,000 after buying an additional 44,772 shares during the period. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on CUZ. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cousins Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial cut shares of Cousins Properties from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cousins Properties has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.50.

Cousins Properties Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE CUZ traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $27.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,050,259 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,642,037. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $24.07 and a fifty-two week high of $32.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.96, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 1.27%. The firm had revenue of $237.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. The company's revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 7th. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.