Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Short Interest Update

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,490,000 shares, a growth of 11.5% from the April 15th total of 3,130,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,590,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on CUZ shares. Barclays reduced their price target on Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Cousins Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $23.67.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

NYSE CUZ traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $23.82. The company had a trading volume of 1,231,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,548,587. The company has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of 48.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.68. Cousins Properties has a twelve month low of $17.40 and a twelve month high of $25.19.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.54). Cousins Properties had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 1.62%. The company had revenue of $209.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. Cousins Properties's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.37%. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 261.22%.

Insider Transactions at Cousins Properties

In other news, CFO Gregg D. Adzema sold 71,097 shares of Cousins Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.31, for a total transaction of $1,657,271.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 85,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,001,676.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cousins Properties

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. PARK CIRCLE Co acquired a new position in Cousins Properties in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Cousins Properties in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new position in Cousins Properties in the 4th quarter worth about $156,000. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. acquired a new position in Cousins Properties in the 3rd quarter worth about $173,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Cousins Properties in the 1st quarter worth about $184,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.38% of the company's stock.

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.