Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $6.23 Million Stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 203,206 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 18,393 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.13% of Cousins Properties worth $6,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in 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 last quarter. Rush Island Management LP bought a new position in shares of Cousins Properties during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,393,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 411.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,113,403 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $32,823,000 after purchasing an additional 895,917 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties in the third quarter worth $20,276,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Cousins Properties by 368.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 781,947 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $23,052,000 after purchasing an additional 615,118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CUZ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp upgraded Cousins Properties from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Cousins Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Cousins Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cousins Properties has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.11.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

CUZ traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $30.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,617,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,244,977. The company's 50-day moving average is $30.32 and its 200-day moving average is $29.77. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 52 week low of $21.58 and a 52 week high of $32.55. The firm has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a PE ratio of 101.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.62. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 1.03%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio is presently 426.67%.

About Cousins Properties

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.