Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) by 37.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 585,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 160,000 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.38% of Cousins Properties worth $13,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CUZ. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cousins Properties during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,502,000. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC bought a new stake in Cousins Properties during the fourth quarter worth $32,105,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Cousins Properties by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,781,184 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $67,722,000 after buying an additional 916,508 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 75.6% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,917,908 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $46,107,000 after purchasing an additional 825,547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Cousins Properties during the 1st quarter worth approximately $14,306,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CUZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Cousins Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Cousins Properties from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $28.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Jeffrey D. Symes sold 5,997 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.13, for a total value of $168,695.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,529 shares in the company, valued at $352,440.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

CUZ traded down $0.23 on Friday, hitting $29.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 840,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,348,234. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 12 month low of $17.40 and a 12 month high of $30.50. The firm has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $27.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.79.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.61). Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.31% and a net margin of 7.25%. The company had revenue of $212.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.75 earnings per share. Cousins Properties's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 3rd. Cousins Properties's dividend payout ratio is presently 261.22%.

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.