PGGM Investments Acquires 1,589,730 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

PGGM Investments raised its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 77.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,629,485 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,589,730 shares during the quarter. Highwoods Properties comprises about 1.4% of PGGM Investments’ holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. PGGM Investments owned 3.42% of Highwoods Properties worth $95,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HIW. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 4.1% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 10,390 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 4.9% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 9,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Highwoods Properties by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,206 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Highwoods Properties by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 46,144 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,059,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 13,731 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 0.9 %

Highwoods Properties stock traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $31.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,019,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,078,872. The firm has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.62 and a beta of 1.26. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.06 and a 12-month high of $31.67. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.89.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.31). The firm had revenue of $204.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.06 million. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 6.33% and a net margin of 18.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.40%. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 163.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on HIW shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Highwoods Properties from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.86.

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.