One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$-4.99 our estimate vs market $30.12
Wall Street consensus: $33.27 (-767.2% lower than our fair-value estimate)
704% below our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
Cousins Properties Incorporated
CUZ · NYQ · Real Estate · REIT - Office
Current price
$30.12
52-week range
$21.03 - $32.95
Market cap
$4.96B
Balance sheet
Stretched
1.41x Concerning
Net debt $3.64B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
3 Risks
3 rewards · 3 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 5.3% last year.
- Reward Returns 0.3% on equity, ahead of 33% of its peers.
- Risk Stock trades 384.0% above its 5-year average P/E.
- Risk Net debt grew 42.1% over 3 years.
What this company does
Cousins Properties Incorporated
Cousins Properties Incorporated (CUZ) is a company that owns and operates large office buildings, mostly in growing cities across the southern United States. Their main income comes from collecting rent from the businesses that lease these office spaces, which is a steady stream of money because leases are usually for multiple years (this is called recurring revenue). This focus on stable rental income from high-quality buildings in good locations is important because it suggests the company is likely to perform reliably, even when the economy has ups and downs.
How the company got here
Cousins Properties was founded in 1958 by Tom Cousins, starting as a residential homebuilder and quickly becoming the largest in Georgia. By 1962, the company went public, and it soon expanded into developing office and retail properties. Over the decades, Cousins Properties evolved, shifting its focus to primarily develop and manage high-quality office buildings in growing Sun Belt markets. This strategic pivot, particularly in the late 2000s, led the company to sell off older or less strategic assets like industrial and retail properties to concentrate on premium office spaces. The company officially became a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) in 1986, a structure that allows it to own income-generating real estate and pass most of its taxable income to shareholders.
What it actually does
Cousins Properties is a real estate company that owns, develops, and manages office buildings. Think of them as the landlord for large companies, providing the physical space where businesses operate. They focus on what they call 'Class A' office buildings, which are generally newer, well-located, and have more amenities. Their main source of income is rent collected from the companies that lease these office spaces. Cousins operates primarily in the Sun Belt region of the United States, which includes states like Texas, Florida, and Arizona, known for their growing economies and populations.
Office Buildings
This is the core business of Cousins Properties. They own and manage a portfolio of office buildings, primarily in major cities across the Sun Belt. These aren't just any office buildings; they focus on 'Class A' properties, which are top-tier buildings in desirable locations. Companies rent office space in these buildings to house their employees and operations. The revenue generated from these leases is the main driver of Cousins' income. The company's strategy involves acquiring and developing modern, high-quality office spaces that attract and retain tenants, often referred to as 'lifestyle office' buildings due to their amenities and focus on tenant experience.
What management is betting on now
Cousins Properties is focused on growing its portfolio of high-quality office buildings in dynamic Sun Belt markets. They aim to be the leading owner of these types of properties in the region. A key part of their strategy is to maintain a strong financial position, often described as a 'fortress balance sheet,' meaning they manage their debt carefully. They are also disciplined in how they allocate capital, meaning they carefully choose where to invest their money, focusing on opportunities where they have a competitive advantage. The company believes that trends like people moving to the Sun Belt and companies seeking better quality office spaces ('flight to quality') will continue to drive demand for their properties.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q4
$-123.69M
FY2025 Q4
$-152.76M
Revenue
$259.42M
Net income
$17.00M
Diluted EPS
0.10
Operating cash flow
$111.31M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$268.53M
Net income
$26.16M
Diluted EPS
0.16
Operating cash flow
$156.53M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$263.11M
Net income
$-24.86M
Diluted EPS
-0.15
Operating cash flow
$40.46M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$255.03M
Net income
$-3.47M
Diluted EPS
-0.02
Operating cash flow
$114.47M
Free cash flow
$-152.76M
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Sources
Revenue
$248.33M
Net income
$8.59M
Diluted EPS
0.05
Operating cash flow
$120.49M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$240.13M
Net income
$14.48M
Diluted EPS
0.09
Operating cash flow
$122.55M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$250.33M
Net income
$20.90M
Diluted EPS
0.12
Operating cash flow
$44.76M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$225.33M
Net income
$13.64M
Diluted EPS
0.09
Operating cash flow
$129.04M
Free cash flow
$-123.69M
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Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $-4.99 vs current price $30.12
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $33.27 (-767.2% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $-4.99 a share — about 116.6% below today's price of $30.12, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Stretched
Net debt $3.6B. Interest coverage 1.4x.
Net debt
$3.64B
Interest coverage
1.41x
Cousins Properties Incorporated's profit covers its interest bill about 1.4 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here and 2 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Stretched
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
CUZ
BASELINE
Cousins Properties Incorporated
Total debt $3.65B Interest coverage 1.41x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $17.33B Interest coverage 1.55x +10% vs CUZ Has roughly the same debt cushion as CUZ.
Total debt $3.51B Interest coverage 1.37x -3% vs CUZ Has roughly the same debt cushion as CUZ.
Total debt $4.50B Interest coverage 2.46x +74% vs CUZ Carries about 1.7x more debt cushion than CUZ.
Total debt $8.19B Interest coverage 0.81x -43% vs CUZ Carries about 1.7x less debt cushion than CUZ.
Total debt $2.34B Interest coverage 0.62x -56% vs CUZ Carries about 2.3x less debt cushion than CUZ.
What you should know
The case for and against CUZ
3 Rewards
3 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 5.3% last year.
-
Returns 0.3% on equity, ahead of 33% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 4/10 years.
Risks
-
Stock trades 384.0% above its 5-year average P/E.
-
Net debt grew 42.1% over 3 years.
-
Insider ownership is only 1.0% (peer median: 1.3%).
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
334.67x
Forward P/E
65.48x
P/B
1.11x
P/S
4.78x
EV/EBITDA
13.03x
PEG ratio
1.31x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
68.1%
Operating margin
24.9%
Net margin
1.4%
ROE
0.3%
ROA
1.7%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.82x
Current ratio
0.30x
Quick ratio
0.27x
Total debt
$3.65B
Total cash
$5.21M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$1.05B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
7.1%
EPS TTM
0.09
EPS 5Y CAGR
-40.0%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$422.77M
Free CF TTM
$135.04M
FCF margin
12.9%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
4.2%
Payout ratio
1,422.2%
Last ex-div date
2026-10-05