Kennedy Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 118,746 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 17,113 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned 0.08% of Cousins Properties worth $3,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CUZ. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cousins Properties in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,194,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,491,300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $413,375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,350,352 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,802,104 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $759,936,000 after purchasing an additional 985,934 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Cousins Properties during the fourth quarter valued at $25,148,000. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Cousins Properties by 181.1% in the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 1,170,067 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $35,851,000 after purchasing an additional 753,757 shares during the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CUZ traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $26.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,450,223 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,257,982. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 12-month low of $21.77 and a 12-month high of $32.55. The company has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.24. 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $28.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.95.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.62. Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.00% and a net margin of 5.36%. On average, analysts forecast that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.77%. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio is currently 426.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CUZ shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Cousins Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Cousins Properties from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho raised shares of Cousins Properties from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $22.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cousins Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cousins Properties presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.70.

Cousins Properties 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.