Cousins Properties (CUZ) Competitors

American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) and Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, media sentiment, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Do analysts prefer AAT or CUZ?

American Assets Trust currently has a consensus price target of $21.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.35%. Cousins Properties has a consensus price target of $32.40, indicating a potential upside of 11.69%. Given Cousins Properties' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Cousins Properties is more favorable than American Assets Trust.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Assets Trust	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Cousins Properties	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of AAT or CUZ?

90.4% of American Assets Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.4% of Cousins Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 36.8% of American Assets Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Cousins Properties shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to AAT or CUZ?

In the previous week, Cousins Properties had 6 more articles in the media than American Assets Trust. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Cousins Properties and 3 mentions for American Assets Trust. American Assets Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.14 beat Cousins Properties' score of 0.84 indicating that American Assets Trust is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
American Assets Trust	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Cousins Properties	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, AAT or CUZ?

American Assets Trust has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Cousins Properties. American Assets Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cousins Properties, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Assets Trust	$457.86M	2.71	$72.82M	$1.27	16.00
Cousins Properties	$856.76M	5.69	$45.96M	$0.33	87.91

Is AAT or CUZ a better dividend stock?

American Assets Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.7%. Cousins Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. American Assets Trust pays out 107.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Cousins Properties pays out 387.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. American Assets Trust has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. American Assets Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, AAT or CUZ?

American Assets Trust has a beta of 1.15, meaning that its share price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cousins Properties has a beta of 1.33, meaning that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AAT or CUZ more profitable?

American Assets Trust has a net margin of 17.57% compared to Cousins Properties' net margin of 5.97%. American Assets Trust's return on equity of 7.02% beat Cousins Properties' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Assets Trust	17.57%	7.02%	2.54%
Cousins Properties	5.97%	1.15%	0.65%

Summary

American Assets Trust beats Cousins Properties on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.