Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) Stock Rating Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $36.00 target price on the real estate investment trust's stock, up from their prior target price of $33.00. Jefferies Financial Group's target price would suggest a potential upside of 16.39% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on CUZ. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Cousins Properties from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $32.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp raised 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Cousins Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Cousins Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.50.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

Shares of CUZ traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $30.93. The stock had a trading volume of 2,714,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,319,127. Cousins Properties has a 52 week low of $21.58 and a 52 week high of $32.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $30.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.42. The firm has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.73, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.29.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last released 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). The business had revenue of $209.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $212.54 million. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 6.17% and a return on equity of 1.14%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cousins Properties will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CUZ. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 27.9% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,293 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $331,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 26,243 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,579 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 452,191 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $10,468,000 after purchasing an additional 2,972 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cousins Properties during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $517,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Cousins Properties by 221.1% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 143,200 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,278,000 after buying an additional 98,600 shares during the period. 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.