UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Sells 251,797 Shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated $CUZ

Key Points

• UniSuper Management Pty Ltd reduced its stake in Cousins Properties by 60.4%, selling 251,797 shares and holding approximately $4.88 million worth at the end of the first quarter.
• Cousins Properties reported a Q2 EPS of $0.70, meeting analysts' estimates, while its revenue reached $237.72 million, slightly below the consensus of $243.73 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.32 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 4.4%, with a very high dividend payout ratio of 345.95%.

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lessened its position in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) by 60.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 165,327 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 251,797 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd owned approximately 0.10% of Cousins Properties worth $4,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CUZ. Resolution Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cousins Properties in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $135,094,000. Rush Island Management LP lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,438,127 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Cousins Properties by 400.9% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,233,050 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $37,781,000 after buying an additional 986,863 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $759,735,000 after buying an additional 951,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 665,391 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CUZ shares. Wall Street Zen cut Cousins Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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 lifted their price objective on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cousins Properties news, CAO Jeffrey D. Symes sold 4,612 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.30, for a total transaction of $135,131.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 13,518 shares of the company's stock, valued at $396,077.40. The trade was a 25.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CUZ traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $29.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,047,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,442,287. 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 has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.39. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 1 year low of $24.07 and a 1 year high of $32.55. The business's 50 day moving average price is $28.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.43.

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

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. Cousins Properties's payout ratio is presently 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.