Evercore ISI Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) Stock

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) had its target price boosted by Evercore ISI from $30.00 to $31.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an in-line rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on CUZ. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded Cousins Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Cousins Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.60.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

CUZ opened at $26.94 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.34. 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 has a 1-year low of $22.01 and a 1-year high of $32.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $27.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.52.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.03. Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.00% and a net margin of 5.36%. The company had revenue of $6.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Cousins Properties will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 387.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cousins Properties

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Cousins Properties by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 44,154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,353,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in Cousins Properties by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,351 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Cousins Properties by 67.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. increased its position in Cousins Properties by 14.8% during the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 3,175 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Cousins Properties by 2.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,377 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.