Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 36,727 Shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,864,177 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 36,727 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 1.88% of Cousins Properties worth $84,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CUZ. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cousins Properties by 3.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,140,948 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $357,910,000 after acquiring an additional 458,387 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Cousins Properties by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,606,870 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $224,251,000 after purchasing an additional 48,668 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,488,358 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $73,357,000 after purchasing an additional 82,521 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 3,768.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,276,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 4.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,214,595 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $51,266,000 after buying an additional 98,222 shares during the period. 94.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Cousins Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com raised Cousins Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Cousins Properties from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $31.00 to $32.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.14.

Cousins Properties Stock Up 1.4 %

Cousins Properties stock traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.24. The company had a trading volume of 3,984,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,321,557. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 12 month low of $21.58 and a 12 month high of $32.55. The company has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a PE ratio of 91.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.29. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $31.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 387.88%.

Cousins Properties Company 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.