Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 359,613 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 83.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 788,693 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 359,613 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.74% of Highwoods Properties worth $24,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 65.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,562 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 2,587 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 4.3% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 207,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,967,000 after buying an additional 8,511 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Highwoods Properties during the third quarter worth $48,000. State Street Corp raised its position in Highwoods Properties by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,289,806 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $244,281,000 after buying an additional 124,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 87.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 123,550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,140,000 after acquiring an additional 57,787 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Highwoods Properties Trading Down 3.2 %

NYSE:HIW opened at $25.30 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $28.77 and its 200 day moving average is $30.83. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.52 and a 12 month high of $36.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 26.63 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 4.33% and a net margin of 12.37%. Sell-side analysts expect that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is currently 210.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HIW. Mizuho upped their target price 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 assumed coverage on shares of Highwoods Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial dropped their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Highwoods Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.50.

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.