Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Shares Bought by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Employees Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) by 155.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 125,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 76,000 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.08% of Cousins Properties worth $3,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also 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 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 923 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Cousins Properties by 67.4% in 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 last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 473.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,301 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 3,551 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of Cousins Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $142,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,995 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $184,000 after buying an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CUZ. StockNews.com cut Cousins Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Cousins Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reduced 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 note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Cousins Properties from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.70.

Cousins Properties Stock Up 0.6 %

Cousins Properties stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $26.08. 1,734,134 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,257,695. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.93, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.13 and a 200 day moving average of $30.03. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 12-month low of $21.58 and a 12-month high of $32.55.

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 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.91%. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.