Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) Upgraded at Mizuho

Mizuho upgraded shares of Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $30.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $22.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp raised Cousins Properties from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Cousins Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cousins Properties has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.11.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CUZ opened at $29.59 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.29. Cousins Properties has a 12 month low of $21.58 and a 12 month high of $32.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $30.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.65.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.60). Cousins Properties had a net margin of 6.17% and a return on equity of 1.14%. The business had revenue of $209.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.54 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. Cousins Properties’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Cousins Properties’s payout ratio is 387.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cousins Properties

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 21.5% in 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. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Cousins Properties by 36.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 31,660 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,004,000 after buying an additional 8,479 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Cousins Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at about $227,000. TCW Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,274,000. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties in the third quarter worth approximately $208,000. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.