Cousins Properties CUZ reported fourth-quarter 2024 funds from operations (FFO) per share of 69 cents, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 68 cents. The figure also improved 6.15% on a year-over-year basis.

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Rental property revenues rose 12% year over year to $220.2 million. It also exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $218.5 million. Total revenues grew 14.4% year over year to $225.3 million.

Results reflected strong leasing activity. The REIT also made strategic investments of $1 billion into trophy lifestyle office properties in its Sun Belt markets. CUZ also provided its 2025 outlook for FFO per share.

For full-year 2024, the FFO per share came in at $2.69, higher than the prior-year tally of $2.62 and also ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.68. Rental property revenues rose 6.1% year over year to $847.8 million.

Per Colin Connolly, president & CEO of Cousins Properties, “In addition to continued strong performance from our property portfolio, the fourth quarter was one of the most productive in Cousins’ history.” Connolly also pointed out, "We invested almost $1 billion into trophy lifestyle office properties in our Sun Belt markets. These transactions were immediately accretive to earnings and were funded on a leverage neutral basis, allowing us to maintain our best-in-class balance sheet with significant liquidity for additional investments." 

CUZ’s Fourth Quarter in Detail

Cousins Properties executed leases for 462,000 square feet of office space in the fourth quarter, including 270,000 square feet of new and expansion leases, representing 58% of total leasing activity.

Same-property rental property revenues on a cash basis rose 6.2% year over year to $193.0 million. The same-property rental property operating expenses on a cash basis flared up 11.8% to $68.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. As a result, the same-property net operating income on a cash basis climbed 3.4% to $124.3 million from the prior-year period.

The weighted average occupancy of the same-property portfolio was 89.1%, up 160 basis points from a year ago.

CUZ ended the quarter with the same-property portfolio being leased 91.2%, up from 90.8% at the end of the year-ago period.

The second-generation net rent per square foot (cash basis) climbed 6.7%.
Interest expenses jumped 20.4% to $33.1 million year over year.

In December, CUZ acquired Vantage South End, a 639,000-square-foot lifestyle office property in South End Charlotte, for $328.5 million, and Sail Tower, an 804,000-square-foot lifestyle office property in Downtown Austin, for $521.8 million.

CUZ’s Balance Sheet

CUZ exited 2024 with cash and cash equivalents of $7.3 million, up from $6.0 million as of Dec. 31, 2023.

The company’s net debt-to-annualized EBITDAre ratio in the quarter was 5.16 compared with 5.10 in the prior quarter. Fixed charges coverage (EBITDAre) was 3.92X, up from 3.91X in the prior quarter.

CUZ’s 2025 Outlook

Cousins Properties expects 2025 FFO per share in the range of $2.73-$2.83. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is presently pegged at $2.73.

The REIT’s guidance includes the disposition of its bankruptcy claim with SVB Financial Group, which it sold for $4.6 million in February 2025.

CUZ currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Cousins Properties Incorporated Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

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Performance of Other Office REITs

BXP Inc.’s BXP fourth-quarter 2024 FFO per share of $1.79 was in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. BXP’s quarterly results reflected better-than-anticipated revenues on healthy leasing activity. However, higher interest expenses during the quarter marred its year-over-year FFO per share growth. Quarterly lease revenues were $798.2 million, up 3.8% year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $795.3 million. 

SL Green Realty Corp. SLG reported a fourth-quarter 2024 FFO per share of $1.45, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.53. The company had reported an FFO of 72 cents per share in the previous year. Results reflected lower-than-anticipated revenues despite decent leasing activity in its Manhattan portfolio. Also, higher interest expenses and lower same-store NOI acted as dampeners.

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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