Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $1.76 Million Stake in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,331 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,869 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cousins Properties were worth $1,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Cousins Properties by 1,609.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 923 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Cousins Properties by 473.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,301 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 3,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in Cousins Properties in the fourth quarter valued at $142,000. Institutional investors own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

Cousins Properties Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Cousins Properties stock opened at $26.42 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.01. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 12-month low of $21.58 and a 12-month high of $32.55. The company has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.24.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. Cousins Properties’s payout ratio is 426.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CUZ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp raised Cousins Properties from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Cousins Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Barclays reduced their target price on Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cousins Properties currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.70.

Cousins Properties 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.