Alliancebernstein L.P. Raises Position in Cousins Properties Incorporated $CUZ

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated by 236.3%, acquiring an additional 546,486 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to 777,722 shares valued at approximately $22.9 million.
• Cousins Properties has a current market cap of $4.91 billion and recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.70 EPS, matching analyst expectations.
• Analyst ratings vary, with six analysts rating the stock as a Buy and a consensus target price of $32.40, reflecting a generally favorable outlook despite some recent rating downgrades.

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) by 236.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 777,722 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 546,486 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.46% of Cousins Properties worth $22,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Choreo LLC boosted its position in Cousins Properties by 25.6% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 27,837 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $821,000 after acquiring an additional 5,681 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Cousins Properties by 13.5% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 166,446 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,910,000 after acquiring an additional 19,744 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Cousins Properties by 16.0% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 9,421 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 1,297 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Cousins Properties by 0.9% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,384,847 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,853,000 after acquiring an additional 12,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Cousins Properties by 25.3% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,554 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,527 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.38% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Jeffrey D. Symes sold 4,612 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.30, for a total value of $135,131.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 13,518 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $396,077.40. This trade represents a 25.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Cousins Properties Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE CUZ traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,047,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,458,514. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 52 week low of $24.07 and a 52 week high of $32.55. The company has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a PE ratio of 79.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $28.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.44.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $237.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $243.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Cousins Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.790-2.850 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 345.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CUZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cousins Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.40.

About Cousins Properties

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.