Ethic Inc. Buys 27,422 Shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated $CUZ

Ethic Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 96.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 55,821 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,422 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Cousins Properties were worth $1,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CUZ. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 242.5% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 2,644,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $59,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872,319 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,743,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Cousins Properties during the 1st quarter valued at about $15,237,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Cousins Properties by 63.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,124,141 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,372,000 after purchasing an additional 436,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in Cousins Properties by 36.4% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,085,544 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $24,508,000 after buying an additional 289,701 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on CUZ. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Mizuho set a $34.00 price objective on Cousins Properties in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Evercore set a $33.00 target price on Cousins Properties in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.50.

Cousins Properties Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:CUZ opened at $29.45 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.43 and a 200-day moving average of $27.13. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a one year low of $21.03 and a one year high of $32.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 1.42% and a return on equity of 0.33%. The firm had revenue of $259.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $264.23 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 5th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 5th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 1,422.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cousins Properties

In other news, CAO Jeffrey Symes sold 6,033 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.44, for a total value of $177,611.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 16,685 shares in the company, valued at $491,206.40. This trade represents a 26.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Cousins Properties

Cousins Properties is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on owning, developing and managing office properties. Its portfolio is concentrated in high-quality office buildings in growing Sun Belt markets. The company’s properties serve businesses across markets including Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville, Phoenix and Tampa. Cousins also provides property management and leasing services to tenants and property owners. Founded in 1958 by Tom Cousins, the company is headquartered in Atlanta.