Cousins Properties (CUZ) Competitors

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

Do analysts rate CUZ or AAT?

Cousins Properties currently has a consensus price target of $32.40, indicating a potential upside of 7.46%. American Assets Trust has a consensus price target of $21.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.91%. Given Cousins Properties' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Cousins Properties is more favorable than American Assets Trust.

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

Which has better earnings & valuation, CUZ or AAT?

American Assets Trust has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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
Cousins Properties	$856.76M	5.91	$45.96M	$0.33	91.36
American Assets Trust	$457.86M	2.70	$72.82M	$1.27	15.91

Does the media favor CUZ or AAT?

In the previous week, Cousins Properties had 6 more articles in the media than American Assets Trust. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for Cousins Properties and 5 mentions for American Assets Trust. American Assets Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.24 beat Cousins Properties' score of 0.68 indicating that American Assets Trust is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Cousins Properties	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
American Assets Trust	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, CUZ or AAT?

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

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

94.4% of Cousins Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.4% of American Assets Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Cousins Properties shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 36.8% of American Assets Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is CUZ or AAT 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
Cousins Properties	5.97%	1.15%	0.65%
American Assets Trust	17.57%	7.02%	2.54%

Is CUZ or AAT a better dividend stock?

Cousins Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. American Assets Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.7%. 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 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. 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.

Summary

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