Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 820,726 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $25,148,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.52% of Cousins Properties at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CUZ. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 1,609.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 923 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 869 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Cousins Properties by 67.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in 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 boosted its position in Cousins Properties by 473.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,301 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 3,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of Cousins Properties in the 4th quarter valued at $142,000. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cousins Properties Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE CUZ opened at $26.82 on Friday. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 52 week low of $21.99 and a 52 week high of $32.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $28.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 89.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.77%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 426.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CUZ shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Cousins Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Mizuho raised 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cousins Properties has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.70.

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.