Alberta Investment Management Corp Acquires New Stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 184,227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $5,645,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Cousins Properties by 67.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Cousins Properties by 49.7% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,319 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Cousins Properties by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,765 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in Cousins Properties by 74.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,976 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 1,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Cousins Properties by 168.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 2,543 shares in the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho raised shares of Cousins Properties from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.11.

Cousins Properties Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of CUZ opened at $30.32 on Thursday. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 52 week low of $21.58 and a 52 week high of $32.55. The firm has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.62. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 1.00%. On average, analysts forecast that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.22%. Cousins Properties’s payout ratio is presently 426.67%.

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.