Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,570,000 shares, a growth of 47.9% from the January 31st total of 3,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Institutional Trading of Cousins Properties

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Cousins Properties by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 44,154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,351 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 67.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 49.7% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,319 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Cousins Properties by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,667 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $695,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

NYSE CUZ traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $30.05. The company had a trading volume of 1,112,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,324,475. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $30.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.06. The company has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of 100.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Cousins Properties has a twelve month low of $21.58 and a twelve month high of $32.55.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.62. Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.00% and a net margin of 5.36%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. Cousins Properties’s payout ratio is presently 426.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $33.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cousins Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.00.

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.