Bank of Montreal Can Boosts Stock Position in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) by 31.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 302,079 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 72,201 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.20% of Cousins Properties worth $8,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CUZ. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 50,776 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,497,000 after acquiring an additional 3,299 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Cousins Properties by 49.7% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,319 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cousins Properties during the third quarter worth $584,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 3.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,488,358 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $73,357,000 after buying an additional 82,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 3,768.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,337,416 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $68,907,000 after buying an additional 2,276,986 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.38% of the company's stock.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CUZ traded down $0.64 on Tuesday, reaching $30.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 320,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,290,712. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 52-week low of $21.58 and a 52-week high of $32.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.94, a PEG ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 1.29. The stock's 50-day moving average is $30.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.60). Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.14% and a net margin of 6.17%. The company had revenue of $209.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio is currently 387.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Jeffrey D. Symes sold 5,997 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.13, for a total transaction of $168,695.61. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at $352,440.77. The trade was a 32.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CUZ. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Cousins Properties from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Cousins Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.57.

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.