We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience.
This includes personalizing content and advertising.
By pressing "Accept All" or closing out of this banner, you consent to the use of all cookies and similar technologies and the sharing of information they collect with third parties.
You can reject marketing cookies by pressing "Deny Optional," but we still use essential, performance, and functional cookies.
In addition, whether you "Accept All," Deny Optional," click the X or otherwise continue to use the site, you accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, revised from time to time.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Cousins Properties Up 19.5% in 3 Months: Will This Momentum Last?
Read MoreHide Full Article
Key Takeaways
CUZ leased 932,000 square feet in Q1 2026 and posted a 15.2% cash-basis rent increase.
Cousins Properties raised 2026 FFO guidance to $2.90-$2.98 per share on stronger leasing assumptions.
CUZ acquired 300 South Tryon and plans asset sales to refine its Sun Belt office portfolio.
Cousins Properties’ (CUZ - Free Report) shares have gained 19.5% in the past three months, outperforming the industry's 1.4% growth.
The company’s Class A Sun Belt office portfolio is benefiting from tenants’ shift toward premium, amenitized space and firmer return-to-office policies.
The company's recent portfolio moves reflect ongoing capital recycling. Share repurchases add a per-share support, and access to unsecured funding provides flexibility.
Analysts seem bullish about this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CUZ’s 2026 funds from operations (FFO) per share has moved 1 cent northward over the past two months to $2.93.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Factors Behind CUZ Stock Price Surge: Will the Trend Last?
Cousins Properties has a Class A Sun Belt office portfolio that is benefiting from flight-to-quality demand and tighter new supply. In the first quarter of 2026, the company executed 932,000 square feet of leases and delivered a 15.2% cash-basis second-generation rent increase. Same-property cash NOI rose 5.5% year over year in the quarter. Management raised 2026 FFO guidance to $2.90-$2.98 per share, reflecting higher leasing assumptions and per-share benefits from capital allocation decisions.
With a significant presence in the best urban submarkets in 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 assets acquisitions in high-growth Sun Belt submarkets. It also makes strategic dispositions for a better portfolio mix. In the first quarter of 2026, the company acquired 300 South Tryon, a 638,000-square-foot office property in Uptown Charlotte, for $317.5 million. In March 2026, the company agreed to sell One Eleven Congress, a 519,000-square-foot office property in Austin, with closing expected early in the third quarter of 2026, and it remains under contract to sell the 303 Tremont land parcel in Charlotte, NC, expected to close in the second half of 2026. Such efforts will aid revenue growth.
Cousins Properties maintains a healthy balance sheet position and exited the first quarter of 2026 with cash and cash equivalents of $6.3 million and $206.5 million drawn under its $1 billion credit facility. As of March 31, 2026, Cousins Properties had a net debt-to-annualized EBITDAre ratio of 5.66. With considerable liquidity and access to capital markets, the company seems well-placed to bank on long-term growth opportunities.
Key Risks for CUZ
Tough competition and market concentration can limit rent growth for Cousins Properties, while higher interest costs and occasional impairments constrain near-term valuation upside.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PLD’s 2026 FFO per share is pegged at $6.18, moving marginally northward over the past month.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LAMR’s full-year FFO per share stands at $8.81, being revised upward by 2.2% over the past month.
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.
Zacks' 7 Best Strong Buy Stocks (New Research Report)
Valued at $99, click below to receive our just-released report
predicting the 7 stocks that will soar highest in the coming month.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Shutterstock
Cousins Properties Up 19.5% in 3 Months: Will This Momentum Last?
Key Takeaways
Cousins Properties’ (CUZ - Free Report) shares have gained 19.5% in the past three months, outperforming the industry's 1.4% growth.
The company’s Class A Sun Belt office portfolio is benefiting from tenants’ shift toward premium, amenitized space and firmer return-to-office policies.
The company's recent portfolio moves reflect ongoing capital recycling. Share repurchases add a per-share support, and access to unsecured funding provides flexibility.
Analysts seem bullish about this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CUZ’s 2026 funds from operations (FFO) per share has moved 1 cent northward over the past two months to $2.93.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Factors Behind CUZ Stock Price Surge: Will the Trend Last?
Cousins Properties has a Class A Sun Belt office portfolio that is benefiting from flight-to-quality demand and tighter new supply. In the first quarter of 2026, the company executed 932,000 square feet of leases and delivered a 15.2% cash-basis second-generation rent increase. Same-property cash NOI rose 5.5% year over year in the quarter. Management raised 2026 FFO guidance to $2.90-$2.98 per share, reflecting higher leasing assumptions and per-share benefits from capital allocation decisions.
With a significant presence in the best urban submarkets in 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 assets acquisitions in high-growth Sun Belt submarkets. It also makes strategic dispositions for a better portfolio mix. In the first quarter of 2026, the company acquired 300 South Tryon, a 638,000-square-foot office property in Uptown Charlotte, for $317.5 million. In March 2026, the company agreed to sell One Eleven Congress, a 519,000-square-foot office property in Austin, with closing expected early in the third quarter of 2026, and it remains under contract to sell the 303 Tremont land parcel in Charlotte, NC, expected to close in the second half of 2026. Such efforts will aid revenue growth.
Cousins Properties maintains a healthy balance sheet position and exited the first quarter of 2026 with cash and cash equivalents of $6.3 million and $206.5 million drawn under its $1 billion credit facility. As of March 31, 2026, Cousins Properties had a net debt-to-annualized EBITDAre ratio of 5.66. With considerable liquidity and access to capital markets, the company seems well-placed to bank on long-term growth opportunities.
Key Risks for CUZ
Tough competition and market concentration can limit rent growth for Cousins Properties, while higher interest costs and occasional impairments constrain near-term valuation upside.
Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are Prologis (PLD - Free Report) and Lamar Advertising (LAMR - Free Report) , 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 PLD’s 2026 FFO per share is pegged at $6.18, moving marginally northward over the past month.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LAMR’s full-year FFO per share stands at $8.81, being revised upward by 2.2% over the past month.
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.