Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) Incorporated’s CUZ fourth-quarter 2021 funds from operations (FFO) per share of 69 cents came in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The figure also improved 1.5% from the prior-year quarter’s figure.
The rental property revenues came in at $187 million, which exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $185.4 million. The reported figure also climbed 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.
According to Colin Connolly, president and chief executive officer, Cousins Properties, “We signed 743,000 square feet of leases during the fourth quarter, our highest leasing volume since 2019 and the second-best quarter over the past five years.”
For 2021, Cousins Properties reported FFO per share of $2.75, down 1.1% from the prior year’s $2.78. The reported figure was in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Total revenues of $755.1 million increased 2% year over year.
Same-property NOI, on a cash basis, inched up 3.5% for 2021from the year-ago period’s figure.
Quarter in Detail
Cousins Properties executed leases for 743,000 square feet of office space in the December quarter, including 639,000 square feet of new and expansion leases. The same-property rental property revenues, on a cash basis, were up 3.4% year over year. The same-property NOI, on a cash basis, increased 2.1% from the year-ago period’s reading.
As of Dec 31, 2021, 90.5% of its same-property portfolio was leased, down from 92.8% at the end of the year-ago period. The weighted average occupancy for CUZ’s same-property portfolio came in at 88.1% for fourth-quarter 2021 compared with the year-ago period’s 91.8%. The second-generation net rent per square foot (cash basis) climbed 6%.
Cousins Properties exited fourth-quarter 2021 with cash and cash equivalents of $8.9 million compared with $4.3 million recorded as of Dec 31, 2020.
Portfolio Activity
During the fourth quarter, Cousins Properties acquired Heights Union, a 294,000 square foot office property in Tampa, for a gross price of $144.8 million. CUZ also acquired50% interest in 300 Colorado, a 369,000 square foot office building in downtown Austin, for a gross price of $162.5 million.
Cousins Properties sold 816 Congress, a 435,000 square foot office building in downtown Austin, for a gross price of $174.0 million.
Outlook
Cousins Properties expects 2022 FFO per share of $2.70-$2.78. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is pegged at $2.77.
CUZ currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
We now look forward to the earnings releases of other REITs, including Outfront Media (NYSE:OUT) Inc. OUT scheduled to be out on Feb 10, Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Inc. WELL scheduled to be out on Feb 15 and Federal Realty (NYSE:FRT) Investment Trust FRT , scheduled to be out on Feb 23.
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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