Cousins Properties: Accelerating Sunbelt Leasing, Rising Occupancy, and Conservative Balance Sheet Support Buy Rating and Higher Price Target

In a report released today, John Kim from BMO Capital upgraded Cousins Properties to a Buy, with a price target of $31.00.

John Kim has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors that distinguish Cousins Properties favorably within a challenged office REIT landscape. He expects the company to be one of the few office landlords delivering both rising occupancy and funds-from-operations growth in 2026–2027, supported by a solid Sunbelt-focused office portfolio and a healthy balance sheet with moderate leverage. He also highlights that Cousins is achieving leases with more attractive economics than peers, as evidenced by meaningfully lower tenant improvement allowances, leasing commissions, and free-rent packages compared with the broader office sector, which should support stronger cash flows and returns. In Kim’s view, these dynamics underpin his upgraded rating and higher $31 price target.

Furthermore, Kim points to the company’s accelerating leasing momentum as a key driver of his positive stance. Cousins recently disclosed over 1.2 million square feet of leases that are either signed or in advanced negotiations, a notable increase from the pipeline reported at the prior quarterly update, with more than half of this volume coming from new tenants or expansions. This robust activity gives management confidence in reaching around 90% occupancy by the end of 2026 and approaching roughly 91% occupancy by late 2027, improving from current levels. Taken together, the strengthening leasing pipeline, improving occupancy outlook, favorable leasing terms, and conservative balance sheet support Kim’s view that Cousins offers an attractive risk‑reward profile and merits a Buy rating.