Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.11.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

CUZ stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $29.59. 1,081,777 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,411,995. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $30.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.65. Cousins Properties has a one year low of $21.58 and a one year high of $32.55. 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 (NYSE:CUZ) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Cousins Properties had a net margin of 6.17% and a return on equity of 1.14%. The company had revenue of $209.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Cousins Properties will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Cousins Properties

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CUZ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,749,662 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,580,000 after purchasing an additional 309,571 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cousins Properties by 368.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 781,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,052,000 after buying an additional 615,118 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,205,415 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $65,016,000 after buying an additional 302,309 shares during the period. AXA S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties in the 2nd quarter valued at $597,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,864,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $84,457,000 after acquiring an additional 36,727 shares in the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.