Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,510,000 shares, an increase of 6.4% from the September 30th total of 3,300,000 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,100,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Cousins Properties from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.67.

Cousins Properties Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE CUZ traded down $0.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $29.98. The stock had a trading volume of 1,460,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,300,004. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Cousins Properties has a fifty-two week low of $17.85 and a fifty-two week high of $32.17. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.97.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.60). The firm had revenue of $209.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.54 million. Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.14% and a net margin of 6.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 3rd. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 387.88%.

Insider Activity

In other Cousins Properties news, CAO Jeffrey D. Symes sold 5,997 shares of Cousins Properties 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $352,440.77. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cousins Properties

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 3.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,140,948 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $357,910,000 after acquiring an additional 458,387 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 10.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 29,043 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $908,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 5.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 18,904 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its position in Cousins Properties by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 30,089 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $887,000 after buying an additional 2,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Cousins Properties by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 36,509 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,059,000 after acquiring an additional 1,626 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

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.