Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.70.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CUZ shares. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cousins Properties in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Cousins Properties from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $33.00 price target on Cousins Properties in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Cousins Properties from $37.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cousins Properties

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CUZ. Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 2,539.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 1,003 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Cousins Properties by 128.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Arax Advisory Partners acquired a new position in Cousins Properties during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its stake in Cousins Properties by 176.1% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new position in Cousins Properties in the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. 94.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

CUZ stock opened at $23.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.66, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Cousins Properties has a 12-month low of $21.03 and a 12-month high of $30.81. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.17.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71. Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 0.85% and a net margin of 4.08%.The firm had revenue of $255.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $252.18 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Cousins Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.870-2.970 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Cousins Properties will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Monday, January 5th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 5th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 533.33%.

Cousins Properties announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 6.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Cousins Properties

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE: CUZ) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in the development, acquisition and management of high-quality office and mixed-use properties. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company focuses on urban infill and suburban markets across the Sun Belt, with a strong presence in metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Nashville, Orlando and Tampa. Its core activities encompass full-service property leasing, asset management and construction oversight, serving a diverse mix of corporate and institutional tenants.

Founded in 1958 as a privately held real estate concern, Cousins Properties completed its initial public offering in 1992.