Wells Fargo analyst Blaine Heck upgraded Cousins Properties to Outperform from Market Perform and raised his price target for the shares to $42 from $38. The company's share underperformance year-to-date relative to peers is not warranted given its exposure to office markets that should see solid rent growth over the next 12-24 months, Heck tells investors in a research note. Further, he believes sentiment surrounding the recent acquisition of Tier REIT has been too negative. Cousins' Sunbelt markets continue to benefit from corporate expansions and relocations and the company should see "meaningful upside" from the mark-to-market of upcoming expirations and from its well-leased development pipeline, says Heck.