CUZ Q1 FFO Beats Estimates on Strong Leasing, Revenues Top

Cousins Properties Incorporated CUZ posted first-quarter 2026 FFO per share of $0.73, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.71 by 2.8%. The metric slipped 1.4% year over year. The company noted that the prior-year period benefited from a gain tied to the sale of a bankruptcy claim with SVB Financial Group.

Rental property revenues came in at $261.1 million, up 7.4% from the year-ago quarter and ahead of the consensus estimate of $253.7 million by 2.9%. Cash-basis same-property NOI increased 5.5%, reflecting healthier in-place performance.

CUZ's Leasing Metrics Stay Firm

Operationally, CUZ turned in an active leasing quarter. The company executed 932,000 square feet of office leases, including 483,000 square feet of new and expansion leases, which represented 52% of total leasing activity.

Pricing trends also leaned constructive. Cash-basis second-generation net rent per square foot increased 15.2%, while period-end office leased was 91.8%, up 110 basis points sequentially. Weighted average office occupancy was 88.9% for the quarter, up 60 bps sequentially.

CUZ’s Portfolio Moves Highlight Capital Recycling

CUZ paired operating momentum with active portfolio and balance sheet actions. During the first quarter, the company acquired 300 South Tryon, a 638,000-square-foot office property in Charlotte, NC, for $317.5 million, received repayment on par of an $18.2 million mezzanine loan investment tied to a Charlotte asset and sold Harborview Plaza in Tampa, FL, for $39.5 million.

The company also entered into an agreement to sell One Eleven Congress, a 519,000-square-foot office property in Austin, with the sale expected to close early in the third quarter of 2026.

On the balance sheet, cash and cash equivalents were $6.3 million at quarter-end, while notes payable totaled $3.77 billion. Credit metrics reflected higher leverage, with net debt to annualized EBITDAre at 5.66, up from 5.30 in the prior quarter and fixed charge coverage (EBITDAre) at 3.45, down from 3.52 in the prior quarter.

After quarter-end, the board authorized an increase in the share repurchase program from $250 million to $500 million.

Cousins Properties Updates 2026 Outlook

Cousins Properties raised its full-year 2026 FFO outlook to $2.90-$2.98 per share from $2.87-$2.97, with management citing the lift as primarily driven by share repurchases and better-than-forecast execution on debt financings, partly offset by eliminating a prior mid-year SOFR cut assumption and now assuming no SOFR cuts during 2026. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 FFO is presently pegged at $2.93, within the guidance range.

Story Continues

CUZ's Zacks Rank

Cousins Properties 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 SurpriseCousins Properties Incorporated Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

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

Performance of Other Office REITs

BXP, Inc. BXP reported first-quarter 2026 FFO of $1.59 per share, edging past the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.58. Still, FFO per share slipped 3.1% from $1.64 a year ago. BXP’s quarterly results reflected healthy leasing activity and higher occupancy. Operating execution stood out as the office REIT completed more than 1.1 million square feet of leasing during the quarter. BXP also raised its guidance for 2026 FFO per share.

BXP’s lease revenues were $818.16 million, up marginally year over year and ahead of the consensus mark by 2.1%. Total revenues increased marginally from the prior-year quarter to $872.1 million.

Highwoods Properties, Inc. HIW reported first-quarter 2026 FFO of 84 cents per share, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate, and up 1.2% from 83 cents a year ago. Highwoods’ rental and other revenues rose 6.8% year over year to $214.0 million and beat the consensus mark of $208.0 million by 2.9%.

Highwoods’ results reflected solid leasing execution, with 958,000 square feet of second-generation leases signed in the quarter and GAAP rent growth of 19.4% on those deals.

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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