Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 4,800 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,023 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,800 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $1,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HIW. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Highwoods Properties by 131.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,708,996 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $90,778,000 after buying an additional 1,536,067 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,130,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $107,155,000 after purchasing an additional 908,401 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 472.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 885,541 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,674,000 after purchasing an additional 730,859 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 537.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 485,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,264,000 after purchasing an additional 409,258 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 319.1% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 479,972 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,678,000 after acquiring an additional 365,454 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on HIW shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.71.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE HIW opened at $28.82 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.53. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.35 and a 52-week high of $36.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 30.33 and a beta of 1.24.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 4.33%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 210.53%.

Highwoods Properties 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.