Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $16.73 Million Stock Position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 0.47% of Highwoods Properties worth $16,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties during the first quarter worth approximately $10,047,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 356.3% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 219,555 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,749,000 after buying an additional 171,435 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 102.8% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 59,619 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 30,219 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 848,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,294,000 after acquiring an additional 58,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 141.2% in the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 36,647 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,228,000 after acquiring an additional 21,455 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on HIW shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research 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 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 issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Highwoods Properties has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.20.

Highwoods Properties Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:HIW opened at $31.82 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $33.51 and its 200-day moving average is $29.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.58 and a 12 month high of $36.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.75 and a beta of 1.26.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $204.96 million. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 6.05% and a net margin of 17.40%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.62 EPS for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 149.25%.

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.