Morgan Stanley Raises Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) Price Target to $24.00

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $23.00 to $24.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential downside of 18.88% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on HIW. New Street Research set a $30.00 target price on shares of Highwoods Properties in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Highwoods Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.25.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Shares of HIW stock opened at $29.59 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Highwoods Properties has a fifty-two week low of $24.18 and a fifty-two week high of $36.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.86 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $30.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.10.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.04. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 16.15%.The company had revenue of $200.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.22 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Highwoods Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.370-3.450 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Highwoods Properties

In other news, Director David John Hartzell sold 4,300 shares of Highwoods Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.10, for a total transaction of $138,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 27,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $882,396.90. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 2.9% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 13,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 2.6% during the first quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 15,397 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 9,146 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC boosted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 12,205 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Highwoods Properties by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 98,051 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,048,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

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.