Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 499,103 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 21,244 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.47% of Highwoods Properties worth $16,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Highwoods Properties during the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 269.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,350 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 55.8% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,114 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,026 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Highwoods Properties Stock Down 0.8 %

HIW opened at $30.34 on Friday. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.37 and a 12 month high of $36.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.64 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $32.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.00.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.74). The firm had revenue of $204.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.96 million. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 17.40% and a return on equity of 6.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.59%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is currently 149.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HIW. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.20.

About Highwoods Properties

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.