Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Short Interest Update

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) saw a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,440,000 shares, an increase of 19.0% from the February 13th total of 4,570,000 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,420,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Cousins Properties in the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,456,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Cousins Properties by 155.1% in the 4th quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 125,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,830,000 after buying an additional 76,000 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Cousins Properties in the 4th quarter worth approximately $793,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 294,645 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,028,000 after purchasing an additional 19,831 shares during the period. 94.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cousins Properties Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE CUZ traded up $0.29 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.81. 775,121 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,209,100. Cousins Properties has a fifty-two week low of $21.58 and a fifty-two week high of $32.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.00 billion, a PE ratio of 99.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.17.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.62. Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.00% and a net margin of 5.36%. Sell-side analysts predict that Cousins Properties will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 426.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on CUZ shares. KeyCorp upgraded Cousins Properties from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird reduced 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Mizuho upgraded Cousins Properties from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cousins Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.89.

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.