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

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.86.

HIW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Highwoods Properties from $22.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

Shares of HIW stock opened at $32.33 on Friday. Highwoods Properties has a 12 month low of $17.06 and a 12 month high of $33.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.50 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.22.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.31). The company had revenue of $204.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $205.06 million. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 18.30% and a return on equity of 6.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.19%. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 163.93%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Highwoods Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. PGGM Investments increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 77.9% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 3,629,485 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $95,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589,730 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,531,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,233,000 after buying an additional 36,285 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 4.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,227,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,251,000 after purchasing an additional 56,399 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 86.8% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,172,929 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,813,000 after purchasing an additional 545,066 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 11.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 957,610 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,070,000 after acquiring an additional 94,804 shares in the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.