Cousins Properties (CUZ) Misses Q4 FFO Estimates, Guides Up

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) reported fourth-quarter 2019 funds from operations (FFO) per share (before TIER transaction costs) of 73 cents, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 74 cents by a whisker. However, the figure improved from the prior-year quarter’s 67 cents.

Quarterly results reflect growth in rental property revenues, though increase in general and administrative expenses played spoilsport. The company expects strong fundamentals in its Sunbelt markets to keep driving internal and external growth, based on which it raised the 2020 FFO guidance.

Rental property revenues for the quarter came in at $189.1 million, compared with $119.6 million in the year-ago quarter. The figure also outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $183.6 million.

For 2019, FFO per share (before TIER transaction costs) was $2.94, higher than the prior-year tally of $2.51. Full-year rental property revenues came in at $628.7 million, up 35.7% year over year.

Quarter in Detail

Cousins Properties executed leases for 561,651 square feet of office space during the December quarter. Same-property NOI, on a cash basis, increased 6% from the year-ago quarter. Moreover, second-generation net rent per square foot (cash basis) increased 12.6%.
Weighted average occupancy for the company’s same-property portfolio of 91.1% for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2019, expanded 20 basis points from the prior quarter.

Cousins Properties exited the fourth quarter with cash and cash equivalents of around $15.6 million compared with the $2.5 million recorded as of Dec 31, 2018.

2020 Outlook

Cousins Properties raised its 2020 FFO per share outlook to $2.72-$2.86 from $2.71-$2.85. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is currently pinned at $2.81.

The company’s updated earnings guidance takes into account 5% same property NOI growth along with a new development start in Phoenix.

Currently, Cousins Properties has 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

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

We, now, look forward to earnings releases from REITs like Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) , Healthpeak Properties, Inc. (NYSE:PEAK) and Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) next week.

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

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