KeyCorp Upgrades Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) to “Overweight”

KeyCorp upgraded shares of Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) from a sector weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $34.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

CUZ has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com raised Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Cousins Properties from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Cousins Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $32.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

Cousins Properties Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CUZ opened at $31.30 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $30.95 and its 200 day moving average is $27.81. 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 has a 1 year low of $21.58 and a 1 year high of $32.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.29.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $209.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.54 million. Cousins Properties had a net margin of 6.17% and a return on equity of 1.14%. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.65 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Cousins Properties will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cousins Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CUZ. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Cousins Properties by 3,768.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,337,416 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,907,000 after buying an additional 2,276,986 shares during the period. Rush Island Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,393,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Cousins Properties by 411.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,113,403 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,823,000 after acquiring an additional 895,917 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Cousins Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at about $20,276,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 615,118 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.38% of the company’s stock.

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.