Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the six analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.17.

HIW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th.

Institutional Trading of Highwoods Properties

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HIW. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 184.7% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 27,048 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $906,000 after buying an additional 17,548 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new stake in Highwoods Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,085,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 848,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,294,000 after purchasing an additional 58,634 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 436.3% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 215,724 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,229,000 after purchasing an additional 175,499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 141.2% during the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 36,647 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 21,455 shares in the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Stock Down 2.8 %

NYSE HIW opened at $29.91 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $31.66 and its 200 day moving average is $31.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.31. Highwoods Properties has a 1 year low of $21.37 and a 1 year high of $36.78.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.74). The business 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%. Highwoods Properties’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 149.25%.

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.