Short Interest in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) Increases By 47.9%

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,570,000 shares, a growth of 47.9% from the January 31st total of 3,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

NYSE:CUZ traded down $0.78 on Tuesday, reaching $29.30. 1,080,966 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,318,536. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.08. Cousins Properties has a 12 month low of $21.58 and a 12 month high of $32.55. The firm has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of 97.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.29. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Cousins Properties will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 426.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cousins Properties

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CUZ. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $864,000 after purchasing an additional 7,788 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Cousins Properties by 1,481.1% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,530 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 6,117 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Cousins Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $863,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Cousins Properties by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of Cousins Properties by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 36,509 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,059,000 after acquiring an additional 1,626 shares in the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CUZ shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Mizuho upgraded Cousins Properties from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cousins Properties currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.00.

About Cousins Properties

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.