Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Increases Stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,490 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Cousins Properties were worth $965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 67.4% in 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 period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Cousins Properties by 30.8% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 74.5% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,976 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,697 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 168.0% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 2,543 shares during the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CUZ. 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 report on Thursday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays cut their target price on Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Cousins Properties from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cousins Properties presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.11.

Cousins Properties Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CUZ opened at $30.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.77. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 52-week low of $21.58 and a 52-week high of $32.55.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.62. Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.03% and a net margin of 5.36%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. Cousins Properties’s payout ratio is currently 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.