Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Boosts Stock Holdings in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 34,024 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Cousins Properties were worth $1,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 49.7% in 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. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Cousins Properties by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 22,667 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Cousins Properties by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 56,824 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,741,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in Cousins Properties by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 57,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,703,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CUZ. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $33.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

Cousins Properties Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:CUZ opened at $30.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.15, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 1-year low of $21.58 and a 1-year high of $32.55. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $30.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

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

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 426.67%.

Cousins Properties 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.