Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New $25.15 Million Investment in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 820,726 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $25,148,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.52% of Cousins Properties at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CUZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Cousins Properties by 21.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,749,662 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $51,580,000 after purchasing an additional 309,571 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,864,177 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $84,457,000 after acquiring an additional 36,727 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Cousins Properties by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 466,850 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $14,304,000 after acquiring an additional 21,939 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Cousins Properties by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,677,769 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $82,047,000 after purchasing an additional 189,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,027 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CUZ has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho raised shares of Cousins Properties from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Cousins Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cousins Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Cousins Properties from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One investment 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.70.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

NYSE CUZ traded up $0.20 on Thursday, reaching $27.60. 162,976 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,253,877. The stock has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 91.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 12 month low of $22.01 and a 12 month high of $32.55. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.89.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.62. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 1.00%. As a group, research analysts predict that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.64%. Cousins Properties's payout ratio is currently 426.67%.

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.