CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Raises Stock Holdings in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 322,580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,469 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.19% of Cousins Properties worth $9,878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 1,609.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 923 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Cousins Properties by 67.4% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 3,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 473.5% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,301 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 3,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of Cousins Properties during the 4th quarter worth about $142,000. Institutional investors own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

Cousins Properties Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE CUZ opened at $26.44 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $28.66 and a 200 day moving average of $29.93. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 12-month low of $22.01 and a 12-month high of $32.55. The stock has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 88.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.24.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last announced 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 net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 1.00%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. Cousins Properties’s payout ratio is 426.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on CUZ. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective 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. 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cousins Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Cousins Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.