Verition Fund Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Verition Fund Management LLC cut its holdings in Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 21.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 264,996 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 74,510 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC owned 0.17% of Cousins Properties worth $7,812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CUZ. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cousins Properties by 368.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 781,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,052,000 after buying an additional 615,118 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Cousins Properties by 15.9% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,205,415 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $65,016,000 after acquiring an additional 302,309 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. bought a new stake in Cousins Properties during the second quarter worth approximately $597,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd raised its position in Cousins Properties by 240.7% during the second quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 29,757 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 21,022 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $863,000. Institutional investors own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Jeffrey D. Symes sold 5,997 shares of Cousins Properties stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.13, for a total value of $168,695.61. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $352,440.77. This trade represents a 32.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CUZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Cousins Properties from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.50.

Cousins Properties Price Performance

Shares of CUZ stock opened at $31.74 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.23. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a one year low of $20.30 and a one year high of $32.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.60). Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.14% and a net margin of 6.17%. The firm had revenue of $209.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.54 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Cousins Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 3rd were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 3rd. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 387.88%.

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.