Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New $793,000 Investment in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 25,874 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $793,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 466,850 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $14,304,000 after purchasing an additional 21,939 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,677,769 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $82,047,000 after purchasing an additional 189,411 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,027 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 36,162 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 7,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Cousins Properties by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 250,886 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $7,609,000 after purchasing an additional 30,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.38% of the company's stock.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

CUZ stock traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $28.07. The company had a trading volume of 2,128,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,295,651. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.34. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a one year low of $22.16 and a one year high of $32.55. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $27.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.33.

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

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio is currently 387.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CUZ. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 note on Monday, May 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Barclays lowered their target price on Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Cousins Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.20.

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.