Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,220,000 shares, a growth of 19.2% from the December 15th total of 4,380,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 989,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HIW. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in Highwoods Properties by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 13,202 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,970 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in Highwoods Properties in the fourth quarter worth about $822,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Highwoods Properties by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 70,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,168,000 after buying an additional 3,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in Highwoods Properties by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 9,766 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 2,610 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

NYSE HIW traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $30.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 575,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,842. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.45. Highwoods Properties has a 52 week low of $21.46 and a 52 week high of $36.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.74). Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 17.40% and a return on equity of 6.05%. The company had revenue of $204.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.96 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Highwoods Properties will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.61%. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 149.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on HIW shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.86.

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.