Cousins Properties CUZ reported third-quarter 2024 funds from operations (FFO) per share of 67 cents, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The figure improved by 3.1% on a year-over-year basis.

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Results reflected strong leasing activity and higher rent realizations amid rising demand for office spaces. However, rise in interest expenses year over year undermine the results to some extent. CUZ also raised its 2024 outlook for FFO per share.

Rental property revenues rose 4.5% year over year to $207.3 million. However, it missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $213.6 million. Total revenues grew 5.2% year over year to $209.2 million.

Per Colin Connolly, president & CEO of Cousins Properties, “We had great results this quarter amid signs that office fundamentals are improving.” He also pointed out, “Looking ahead, we expect the supply of office buildings to continue to decline while leasing demand accelerates. This is an attractive environment for us to drive leasing in our Sun Belt lifestyle office portfolio and identify compelling new investment opportunities."

Cousins Properties Incorporated Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Cousins Properties Incorporated price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Cousins Properties Incorporated Quote

CUZ’s Third Quarter in Detail

Cousins Properties executed leases for 763,000 square feet of office space in the third quarter, including 611,000 square feet of new and expansion leases, representing 80% of total leasing activity.

Same-property rental property revenues on a cash basis rose 3.2% year over year to $186.6 million. The same-property rental property operating expenses on a cash basis grew 0.8% to $63.4 million in the third quarter of 2024. As a result, the same-property net operating income on a cash basis climbed 4.4% to $123.2 million from the prior-year period.

The weighted average occupancy of the same-property portfolio was 88.4%, up 70 basis points from a year ago.

CUZ ended the quarter with the same-property portfolio being leased 91.1%, up from 90.9% at the end of the year-ago period.

The second-generation net rent per square foot (cash basis) climbed 7.2%.

Interest expenses jumped 13.9% to $30.8 million year over year.

CUZ’s Balance Sheet

CUZ exited the third quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $76.1 million, up from $5.95 million as of June 30, 2024.

The company’s net debt-to-annualized EBITDAre ratio in the quarter was 5.10 compared with 5.12 in the prior quarter.

CUZ’s 2024 Outlook Raised

Cousins Properties raised its guidance for 2024 FFO per share to the range of $2.66-$2.70 from the $2.63-$2.68 range projected earlier. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is presently pegged at $2.67, which is within expectations.

The increase in FFO was mainly due to lower short-term interest rates, lower real estate taxes and new investment activity.

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

Performance of Other Office REITs

Highwoods Properties Inc.HIW reported a third-quarter 2024 FFO per share of 90 cents, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 88 cents. However, the figure was lower than the prior-year quarter’s 93 cents.

Results reflected healthy leasing activity with rent growth amid rising demand for highly amenitized premium office spaces. However, higher interest expenses undermined the results to an extent. HIW raised its outlook for 2024.

SL Green Realty Corp.SLG reported a third-quarter 2024 FFO per share of $1.13, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.21. The company had reported an FFO of $1.27 per share in the previous year.

Results reflected decent leasing activity in its Manhattan portfolio and higher rental revenues. Higher interest expenses acted as a dampener.

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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