Strs Ohio Buys New Shares in Cousins Properties Incorporated $CUZ

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired 612,098 shares of Cousins Properties, valued at approximately $18 million, during the first quarter.
• Institutional investors own 94.38% of Cousins Properties, indicating strong institutional confidence in the company.
• The company's quarterly dividend was declared at $0.32 per share, illustrating a yield of 4.3%, despite a high payout ratio of 345.95%.

Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 612,098 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $18,057,000. Strs Ohio owned approximately 0.36% of Cousins Properties at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Resolution Capital Ltd lifted its position in Cousins Properties by 33.5% during the first quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd now owns 5,886,133 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $173,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,477,044 shares during the last quarter. Rush Island Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,438,127 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Cousins Properties by 400.9% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,233,050 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $37,781,000 after acquiring an additional 986,863 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Cousins Properties by 3.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,753,741 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $759,735,000 after acquiring an additional 951,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Cousins Properties by 106.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,289,407 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $38,038,000 after purchasing an additional 665,391 shares during the period. 94.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cousins Properties

In other 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 13,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $396,077.40. This trade represents a 25.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Cousins Properties Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE CUZ traded up $0.36 during trading on Thursday, reaching $29.27. 402,127 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,503,281. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 12-month low of $24.07 and a 12-month high of $32.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 2.45. The firm has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.39. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $28.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.43.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70. The firm had revenue of $237.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.73 million. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 1.27%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. Cousins Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.790-2.850 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. Cousins Properties's payout ratio is currently 345.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CUZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cousins Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cousins Properties presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.50.

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.