Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Strong Sell”

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CUZ. Weiss Ratings raised Cousins Properties from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Cousins Properties from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $33.00 price objective on Cousins Properties in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Mizuho set a $27.00 price objective on Cousins Properties in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.36.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CUZ opened at $25.81 on Friday. Cousins Properties has a 1-year low of $21.03 and a 1-year high of $30.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $23.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.75. The company has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of -859.88, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.21.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.21). Cousins Properties had a negative net margin of 0.52% and a negative return on equity of 0.11%. The company had revenue of $263.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $256.77 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. Cousins Properties’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Cousins Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.900-2.980 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cousins Properties will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 7th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 7th. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -4,266.67%.

Cousins Properties declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 17th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 6.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Cousins Properties by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,890,208 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $332,310,000 after purchasing an additional 419,911 shares during the last quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd boosted its position in Cousins Properties by 0.6% in the second quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd now owns 5,919,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $177,754,000 after purchasing an additional 33,097 shares during the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Cousins Properties by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,847,176 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $150,740,000 after purchasing an additional 179,036 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in Cousins Properties by 308.9% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 5,175,415 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $133,422,000 after purchasing an additional 3,909,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,484,297 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $100,836,000 after buying an additional 252,590 shares in the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cousins Properties

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE: CUZ) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in the development, acquisition and management of high-quality office and mixed-use properties. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company focuses on urban infill and suburban markets across the Sun Belt, with a strong presence in metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Nashville, Orlando and Tampa. Its core activities encompass full-service property leasing, asset management and construction oversight, serving a diverse mix of corporate and institutional tenants.

Founded in 1958 as a privately held real estate concern, Cousins Properties completed its initial public offering in 1992.