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 compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Which has more risk and volatility, AAT or CUZ?

American Assets Trust has a beta of 1.17, suggesting that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cousins Properties has a beta of 1.33, suggesting that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in AAT or CUZ?

90.4% of American Assets Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.4% of Cousins Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 36.8% of American Assets Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Cousins Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

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 6.5%. Cousins Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. American Assets Trust pays out 117.2% 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 345.9% 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 raised 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.

Does the media refer more to AAT or CUZ?

In the previous week, Cousins Properties had 3 more articles in the media than American Assets Trust. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for Cousins Properties and 11 mentions for American Assets Trust. American Assets Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.53 beat Cousins Properties' score of 1.23 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	10 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Cousins Properties	10 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer AAT or CUZ?

American Assets Trust presently has a consensus target price of $20.50, suggesting a potential downside of 1.28%. Cousins Properties has a consensus target price of $32.40, suggesting a potential upside of 11.67%. Given Cousins Properties' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly 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

Is AAT or CUZ more profitable?

American Assets Trust has a net margin of 16.26% compared to Cousins Properties' net margin of 6.51%. American Assets Trust's return on equity of 6.47% beat Cousins Properties' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Assets Trust	16.26%	6.47%	2.34%
Cousins Properties	6.51%	1.27%	0.70%

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	2.77	$72.82M	$1.16	17.90
Cousins Properties	$856.76M	5.69	$45.96M	$0.37	78.42

Summary

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