Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ)

Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $35.00 price target on the real estate investment trust's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Cousins Properties from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Cousins Properties from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.89.

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Cousins Properties Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Cousins Properties stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Monday, hitting $29.61. 2,973,561 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,214,458. The stock has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.70, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $29.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.17. Cousins Properties has a twelve month low of $21.58 and a twelve month high of $32.55. 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 data on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.62. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 1.00%. Equities research analysts predict that Cousins Properties will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cousins Properties's payout ratio is 426.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CUZ. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 1,609.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 923 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position 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 buying an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Cousins Properties during the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. Finally, FIL Ltd grew 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 buying an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.