Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Invests $353,000 in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 13,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $353,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HIW. PGGM Investments purchased a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties in the fourth quarter valued at $46,833,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 42.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,364,176 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Highwoods Properties during the 4th quarter worth about $24,306,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 402.4% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 485,191 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,140,000 after purchasing an additional 388,617 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties in the first quarter worth approximately $10,047,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:HIW opened at $31.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20 and a beta of 1.26. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.06 and a 1 year high of $32.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $28.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.30.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.31). Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 6.33% and a net margin of 18.30%. The company had revenue of $204.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 163.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on HIW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.86.

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.