Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.32

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 18th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.32 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%.

Cousins Properties has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.8% per year over the last three years. Cousins Properties has a dividend payout ratio of 272.3% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Cousins Properties to earn $2.84 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 45.1%.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CUZ traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.52. 1,222,612 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,211,095. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 98.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.28. Cousins Properties has a one year low of $21.58 and a one year high of $32.55. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.92 and its 200 day moving average is $30.16.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.62. Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.00% and a net margin of 5.36%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CUZ shares. StockNews.com downgraded Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Mizuho upgraded Cousins Properties from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp upgraded Cousins Properties from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Cousins Properties in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.