Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $1.04 Million in Cousins Properties Incorporated $CUZ

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 35,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,036,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CUZ. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Cousins Properties during the second quarter worth $338,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 120,577 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,621,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Cousins Properties in the 2nd quarter valued at $346,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 7,808.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 23,408 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $703,000 after purchasing an additional 23,112 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 771,751 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,609,000 after purchasing an additional 17,022 shares during the period. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CUZ. Robert W. Baird set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Cousins Properties in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Cousins Properties in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $28.00 price target on shares of Cousins Properties in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Mizuho set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Cousins Properties in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cousins Properties has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.25.

Cousins Properties Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:CUZ opened at $22.76 on Friday. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $21.03 and a fifty-two week high of $30.81. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $24.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.21.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.71. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 4.08% and a return on equity of 0.85%. The company had revenue of $255.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $252.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Cousins Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.870-2.970 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Monday, January 5th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 5th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Cousins Properties’s payout ratio is presently 533.33%.

Cousins Properties announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 17th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 6.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Cousins Properties

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE: CUZ) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in the development, acquisition and management of high-quality office and mixed-use properties. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company focuses on urban infill and suburban markets across the Sun Belt, with a strong presence in metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Nashville, Orlando and Tampa. Its core activities encompass full-service property leasing, asset management and construction oversight, serving a diverse mix of corporate and institutional tenants.

Founded in 1958 as a privately held real estate concern, Cousins Properties completed its initial public offering in 1992.