Analyzing Cousins Properties (CUZ) & Its Peers

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) is one of 59 public companies in the “Office REITs” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Cousins Properties to similar businesses based on the strength of its valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

94.4% of Cousins Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.1% of shares of all “Office REITs” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Cousins Properties shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of shares of all “Office REITs” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Cousins Properties and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cousins Properties	0	2	7	0	2.78
Cousins Properties Competitors	946	2834	2691	25	2.28

Cousins Properties currently has a consensus price target of $31.50, suggesting a potential upside of 7.38%. As a group, “Office REITs” companies have a potential upside of 2.40%. Given Cousins Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Cousins Properties is more favorable than its peers.

Dividends

Cousins Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Cousins Properties pays out 1,422.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Office REITs” companies pay a dividend yield of 4.9% and pay out -4.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Cousins Properties lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Cousins Properties and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cousins Properties	$993.82 million	$40.50 million	325.94
Cousins Properties Competitors	$531.28 million	-$49.56 million	14.89

Cousins Properties has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. Cousins Properties is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Cousins Properties and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cousins Properties	1.42%	0.33%	0.17%
Cousins Properties Competitors	-16.89%	-7.45%	-0.14%

Volatility and Risk

Cousins Properties has a beta of 1.17, indicating that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cousins Properties’ peers have a beta of 1.02, indicating that their average share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Cousins Properties beats its peers on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

Cousins Properties Company Profile

Cousins Properties is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on owning, developing and managing office properties. Its portfolio is concentrated in high-quality office buildings in growing Sun Belt markets. The company’s properties serve businesses across markets including Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville, Phoenix and Tampa. Cousins also provides property management and leasing services to tenants and property owners. Founded in 1958 by Tom Cousins, the company is headquartered in Atlanta.