Polymer Capital Management US LLC Purchases Shares of 8,347 Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Polymer Capital Management US LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 8,347 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Cousins Properties by 164.6% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 82,220 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,519,000 after acquiring an additional 51,148 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties during the fourth quarter valued at about $313,000. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Cousins Properties by 69.8% in the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 81,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 33,500 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Cousins Properties by 462.0% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 193,022 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,914,000 after buying an additional 158,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Cousins Properties by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 192,550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,900,000 after buying an additional 47,629 shares during the period. 94.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CUZ shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Cousins Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Cousins Properties from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho raised Cousins Properties from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Cousins Properties from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.70.

Cousins Properties Stock Performance

NYSE:CUZ opened at $25.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.61 and its 200-day moving average is $30.19. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 52-week low of $21.58 and a 52-week high of $32.55. The company has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.67, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.24.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.98%. Cousins Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 426.67%.

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.