Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Receives $24.75 Average Price Target from Analysts

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.75.

HIW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Highwoods Properties from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th.

Institutional Trading of Highwoods Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HIW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 7.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,371,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $358,017,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,688 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 42.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,614,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $105,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364,176 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Highwoods Properties by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,328,382 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,459,000 after purchasing an additional 9,397 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments bought a new stake in Highwoods Properties during the 4th quarter valued at $46,833,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,898,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $43,580,000 after buying an additional 124,577 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Highwoods Properties Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE HIW opened at $26.27 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Highwoods Properties has a 12-month low of $17.06 and a 12-month high of $28.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $25.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53 and a beta of 1.22.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is currently 163.93%.

Highwoods Properties Company Profile

Highwoods Properties, Inc, headquartered in Raleigh, is a publicly-traded (NYSE:HIW), fully-integrated office real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, acquires, leases and manages properties primarily in the best business districts (BBDs) of Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa.