- Wells Fargo analysts including Blaine Heck upgrades Cousins Properties (CUZ +0.2%) to buy from hold, noting that the stock's YTD underperformance against its peers "is not warranted given the company's exposure to office markets that should see solid rent growth over the next 12-24 months," they wrote.
- CUZ's development pipeline of $428M is underappreciated as it can contribute ~$39M in annualized NOI, the analysts said.
- CUZ has risen 15% in 2019 vs. average of 25% for its secondary office market peers, Heck writes.
- Its net debt to EBITDA of 4.5x is below peer average of 6.8x.
- via Bloomberg First Word.
- Before this action, Sell-Side average rating was Outperform (5 Buy, 2 Hold).