In an effort to expand in Texas and boost its Atlanta
portfolio,
Cousins Properties Inc.
(
CUZ
) acquired a 100% interest in Post Oak Central in the Galleria
submarket of Houston, purchased the residual 80% interest in
Terminus 200 and consequently formed a 50-50 joint venture (JV)
for both Terminus 100 and Terminus 200 towers in Atlanta's
Buckhead submarket. Cousins Properties financed all the deals
with the proceeds generated from the recent non-core asset sales.
Cousins Properties' acquisition of the 100% interest in Post Oak
Central -- a Class-A office complex in Houston -- was made from
institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management
of
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
(
JPM
) for $232.6 million. This consists of 3 towers spanning 1.3
million square feet.
Also, the purchase included a two-acre development parcel with
the front facing toward Post Oak Central Boulevard. The Post Oak
Central deal is in line with the company's strategy of increasing
its quality urban office towers portfolio in the best Sun Belt
submarkets at favorable valuations.
Moreover, Cousins Properties' Terminus deal included 2 Class-AA
towers aggregating 1.2 million square feet. Terminus 100 was
valued at $209.2 million while Terminus 200 at $164.0 million.
The 50-50 JV with institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan
Asset Management for both Terminus towers would help realize
top-notch sponsorship benefits and gain from the steadily
improving Buckhead submarket.
As a matter of fact, Cousins Properties' portfolio is primarily
concentrated in high-growth Sun Belt markets, which due to its
long-term demographic trends, is expected to exhibit
above-average job growth. This provides an upside potential for
the company.
Moreover, this Atlanta, Georgia-based real estate investment
trust (REIT) is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter 2012
results after the closing bell on Feb 13, 2013. The Zacks
Consensus Estimate for the company's fourth-quarter earnings is
currently pegged at 10 cents per share.
The Zacks Earnings ESP (Read:
Zacks Earnings ESP: A Better Method
) for Cousins Properties is +20.0% for the fourth quarter. This,
along with its Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), increases the chances of a
positive earnings surprise call.
Two other REITs that are also reporting this week are
HCP Inc.
(
HCP
), releasing its results on Feb 12 and
Ventas Inc.
(
VTR
) on Feb 15.
COUSIN PROP INC (CUZ): Free Stock Analysis
Report
HCP INC (HCP): Free Stock Analysis Report
JPMORGAN CHASE (JPM): Free Stock Analysis
Report
VENTAS INC (VTR): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment
Research