Cousins Properties Stock Up 11% in Three Months: Will This Trend Last?

Cousins Properties CUZ shares have gained 11% in the past three months, outperforming the industry's 7.2% growth.

The company’s high-quality office portfolio, impressive tenant roster, opportunistic investments and developments in the best sub-markets and strong balance sheet aid the growth momentum.

Cousins is well-poised to gain, backed by tenants’ preference for premium office spaces with class-apart amenities and a growing emphasis on return-to-office mandates.

Analysts seem bullish about this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CUZ’s 2025 funds from operations (FFO) per share has moved 1 cent northward over the past two months to $2.80.

Factors Behind CUZ Stock Price Surge: Will the Trend Last?

Cousins Properties has an unmatched portfolio of Class A office assets concentrated in the high-growth Sun Belt markets. This region is experiencing a population influx. Amid favorable migration trends and a pro-business environment, corporate relocations and expansions in the Sun Belt markets have gained pace, and this is driving the demand for office space. Further, the company is seeing several tenants returning to offices or announcing plans to report to workplaces. This, too, is likely to support office market fundamentals in its markets.

With a significant presence in the best urban submarkets of each city, Cousins Properties has been able to enjoy healthy demand for its properties. The company has a well-diversified, high-end tenant roster with less dependence on a single industry. This enables it to enjoy steady revenues over different economic cycles.

CUZ makes efforts to upgrade portfolio quality with trophy asset acquisitions and opportunistic developments in high-growth Sun Belt submarkets. It also makes strategic dispositions for a better portfolio mix. Apart from the TIER REIT transaction, from 2020 through the first quarter of 2025, the company acquired 2.9 million square feet of operating properties for $1.54 billion, completed 2.2 million square feet of development at total project costs of $909 million and sold 5.5 million square feet of operating properties for $1.28 billion. Such efforts will aid future revenue growth.

Cousins Properties maintains a healthy balance sheet position and exited the first quarter of 2025 with cash and cash equivalents of $5.3 million and $38.7 million drawn under its $1 billion credit facility. As of March 31, 2025, Cousins Properties had a net debt-to-annualized EBITDAre ratio of 4.87. With considerable liquidity and access to capital markets, the company seems well-placed to bank on long-term growth opportunities.

Key Risks for CUZ

High competition is likely to affect Cousins Properties’ ability to retain tenants at relatively higher rents, impacting its pricing power. A concentrated portfolio and high interest expenses also ail.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are SBA Communications SBAC and Uniti Group UNIT, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SBAC’s 2025 FFO per share is pegged at $12.74, moving marginally northward over the past two months.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for UNIT’s full-year FFO per share stands at $1.50, being revised upward by 4.2% over the past two months.

Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO) — a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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