American Assets Trust (AAT) Competitors

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) and American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation, earnings, community ranking and dividends.

Does the media prefer CUZ or AAT?

In the previous week, Cousins Properties had 5 more articles in the media than American Assets Trust. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Cousins Properties and 1 mentions for American Assets Trust. American Assets Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.31 beat Cousins Properties' score of 0.91 indicating that American Assets Trust is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Cousins Properties	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
American Assets Trust	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk & volatility, CUZ or AAT?

Cousins Properties has a beta of 1.29, suggesting that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Assets Trust has a beta of 1.3, suggesting that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in CUZ or AAT?

94.4% of Cousins Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.4% of American Assets Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Cousins Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 37.3% of American Assets Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, CUZ or AAT?

American Assets Trust has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Cousins Properties. American Assets Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cousins Properties, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cousins Properties	$856.76M	5.89	$45.96M	$0.30	100.30
American Assets Trust	$457.86M	2.92	$72.82M	$0.89	24.54

Do analysts prefer CUZ or AAT?

Cousins Properties currently has a consensus price target of $33.11, suggesting a potential upside of 10.04%. American Assets Trust has a consensus price target of $26.00, suggesting a potential upside of 19.06%. Given American Assets Trust's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe American Assets Trust is more favorable than Cousins Properties.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cousins Properties	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
American Assets Trust	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer CUZ or AAT?

American Assets Trust received 89 more outperform votes than Cousins Properties when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.25% of users gave American Assets Trust an outperform vote while only 56.85% of users gave Cousins Properties an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Cousins Properties	Outperform Votes 282 56.85%	Underperform Votes 214 43.15%
American Assets Trust	Outperform Votes 371 66.25%	Underperform Votes 189 33.75%

Is CUZ or AAT more profitable?

American Assets Trust has a net margin of 12.40% compared to Cousins Properties' net margin of 5.36%. American Assets Trust's return on equity of 4.98% beat Cousins Properties' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cousins Properties	5.36%	1.00%	0.58%
American Assets Trust	12.40%	4.98%	1.80%

Is CUZ or AAT a better dividend stock?

Cousins Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. American Assets Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.1%. Cousins Properties pays out 426.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. American Assets Trust pays out 150.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. American Assets Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

American Assets Trust beats Cousins Properties on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.