AQR Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

AQR Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 20.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 802,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 209,085 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.76% of Highwoods Properties worth $20,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 45.5% during the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 141.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,073 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 63.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,766 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties in the 1st quarter valued at about $107,000. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on HIW shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Highwoods Properties from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $22.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.29.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

Shares of HIW opened at $33.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.44 and a beta of 1.26. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.06 and a 12-month high of $33.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $31.59 and its 200-day moving average is $27.89.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.31). The firm had revenue of $204.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $205.06 million. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 18.30% and a return on equity of 6.33%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.97%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.