Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Shares Sold by Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC trimmed its position in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 540,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 25,000 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.34% of Cousins Properties worth $16,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CUZ. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Cousins Properties by 1,609.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 923 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Cousins Properties by 67.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 981 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 473.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,301 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 3,551 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,351 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on CUZ. StockNews.com raised shares of Cousins Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Cousins Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Cousins Properties from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.70.

Cousins Properties Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of Cousins Properties stock traded up $0.49 on Thursday, reaching $28.47. 896,929 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,249,298. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $27.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 1-year low of $22.01 and a 1-year high of $32.55. The company has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.34.

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

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. Cousins Properties's payout ratio is 387.88%.

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.