Versant Capital Management Inc Buys 1,586 Shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ)

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) by 3,236.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,586 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Cousins Properties were worth $38,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cousins Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,502,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Cousins Properties by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,208,784 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $297,284,000 after buying an additional 1,407,164 shares in the last quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Cousins Properties in the fourth quarter worth about $32,105,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Cousins Properties by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,781,184 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $67,722,000 after buying an additional 916,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Cousins Properties by 75.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,917,908 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $46,107,000 after buying an additional 825,547 shares in the last quarter. 94.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cousins Properties Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE CUZ traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $27.31. 53,059 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,419,923. Cousins Properties Incorporated has a 52-week low of $17.40 and a 52-week high of $27.97. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.34, a PEG ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.42.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.61). The firm had revenue of $212.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $208.18 million. Cousins Properties had a return on equity of 1.31% and a net margin of 7.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.75 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cousins Properties Incorporated will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Cousins Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 3rd were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.69%. Cousins Properties’s payout ratio is 261.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CUZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Cousins Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Cousins Properties from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Cousins Properties from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cousins Properties has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.43.

Cousins Properties 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.