Wells Fargo & Company Raises Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) Price Target to $31.00

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) had its target price increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $26.00 to $31.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. StockNews.com raised Cousins Properties from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Cousins Properties from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an in-line rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Cousins Properties in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $28.14.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

Shares of CUZ stock opened at $29.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 1.31. Cousins Properties has a 12-month low of $17.40 and a 12-month high of $29.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $26.59 and a 200-day moving average of $24.31.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.61). Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.31% and a net margin of 7.25%. The business had revenue of $212.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $208.18 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cousins Properties will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.35%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 261.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cousins Properties

In other news, CAO Jeffrey D. Symes sold 5,997 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.13, for a total value of $168,695.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $352,440.77. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cousins Properties

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,353,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $561,412,000 after purchasing an additional 456,251 shares during the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Cousins Properties by 8.9% during the first quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 4,898,757 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $112,377,000 after purchasing an additional 399,468 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Cousins Properties by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,781,184 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $67,722,000 after buying an additional 916,508 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Cousins Properties by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,289,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,755,000 after buying an additional 117,031 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 4.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,214,595 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,266,000 after buying an additional 98,222 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.