Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) Price Target to $31.00

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) had its price target lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $35.00 to $31.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on HIW. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.17.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Highwoods Properties stock opened at $30.78 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.21. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 22.97 and a beta of 1.24. Highwoods Properties has a 12-month low of $21.37 and a 12-month high of $36.78.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last posted its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $204.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.96 million. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 17.40% and a return on equity of 6.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties will post 3.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.50%. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is currently 149.25%.

Institutional Trading of Highwoods Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 13,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Presima Securities ULC raised its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 52,536 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,760,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 21,537 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.