Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) shares saw strong trading volume on Wednesday . 770,675 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the previous session’s volume of 1,283,425 shares.The stock last traded at $30.27 and had previously closed at $30.12.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CUZ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Cousins Properties from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Barclays raised their price target on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.57.

Cousins Properties Trading Up 0.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of 91.21, a PEG ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.82 and a 200 day moving average of $27.59.

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

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 3rd. Cousins Properties’s payout ratio is 387.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cousins Properties

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CUZ. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 130.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,514 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 49.7% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,319 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 30.8% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Cousins Properties during the 2nd quarter valued at $115,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in Cousins Properties by 74.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,976 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 1,697 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

About Cousins Properties

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.