1,866,658 Shares in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Purchased by Norges Bank

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,866,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $57,194,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 110,507 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,376,000 after purchasing an additional 11,845 shares in the last quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Cousins Properties by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 189,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,799,000 after acquiring an additional 9,355 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Cousins Properties by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,802,104 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $759,936,000 after acquiring an additional 985,934 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Cousins Properties by 53.2% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 23,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $709,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Cousins Properties in the 4th quarter worth approximately $925,000. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on CUZ shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho raised shares of Cousins Properties from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Cousins Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.89.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

NYSE CUZ opened at $27.19 on Friday. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $21.58 and a fifty-two week high of $32.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $29.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.71%. Cousins Properties’s dividend 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.