Cousins Properties Incorporated Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.32 (NYSE:CUZ)

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 18th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.32 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%.

Cousins Properties has decreased its dividend by an average of 0.8% annually over the last three years. Cousins Properties has a dividend payout ratio of 272.3% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect Cousins Properties to earn $2.84 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 45.1%.

Cousins Properties Stock Up 0.6 %

CUZ traded up $0.17 on Tuesday, hitting $29.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,222,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,211,095. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.16. Cousins Properties has a 12-month low of $21.58 and a 12-month high of $32.55. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.28.

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) last posted 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%. Analysts predict that Cousins Properties will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho raised Cousins Properties from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Cousins Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $32.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial raised their price target on Cousins Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp raised Cousins Properties from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Cousins Properties from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cousins Properties currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.89.

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.