Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Shares Sold by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Cousins Properties by 70.8% in Q1, holding 7,556 shares valued at $223,000 after selling 18,318 shares.
• Institutional investors dominate Cousins Properties, owning 94.38% of the company's stock, with several major funds acquiring new positions in the fourth quarter.
• Cousins Properties announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 4.8%, despite a high payout ratio of 345.95%.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) by 70.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,556 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 18,318 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Cousins Properties were worth $223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CUZ. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Cousins Properties during the first quarter worth $36,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties during the fourth quarter worth $85,000. FIL Ltd increased its stake in Cousins Properties by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,262 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,374 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the period. 94.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CUZ traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.19. 416,855 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,504,037. The company has a quick ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.70. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 1-year low of $24.07 and a 1-year high of $32.55. The firm has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.33.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70. The business had revenue of $237.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $243.73 million. Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.27% and a net margin of 6.51%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 7th. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio is presently 345.95%.

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.