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

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.20.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,536,067 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,130,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $107,155,000 after buying an additional 908,401 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 730,859 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 537.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 485,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,264,000 after buying an additional 409,258 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 109.5% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 552,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,501,000 after purchasing an additional 288,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Shares of HIW traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $30.63. 98,557 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 849,756. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.94 and a 200-day moving average of $31.14. Highwoods Properties has a 1-year low of $21.37 and a 1-year high of $36.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.31.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 6.05% and a net margin of 17.40%. The company had revenue of $204.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.96 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Highwoods Properties will post 3.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is currently 149.25%.

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.