Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Grows Stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) by 30.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,474,889 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 343,375 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.93% of Cousins Properties worth $45,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CUZ. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 44,154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,353,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Cousins Properties by 67.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 981 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,667 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $695,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The increased its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 7,393 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its position in Cousins Properties by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,262 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the period. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

CUZ stock traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $27.94. The company had a trading volume of 1,421,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,246,283. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 12 month low of $22.01 and a 12 month high of $32.55. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $28.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.88. The firm has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 93.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.62. Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.00% and a net margin of 5.36%. On average, analysts forecast that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.58%. Cousins Properties's payout ratio is 426.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised shares of Cousins Properties from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Cousins Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cousins Properties presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.70.

Cousins Properties 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.