Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,633 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.06% of Highwoods Properties worth $1,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 12.0% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,719 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 19,141 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 26.1% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,111 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HIW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.71.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Shares of Highwoods Properties stock opened at $29.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.63 and a beta of 1.24. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $23.52 and a one year high of $36.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.52.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 4.33%. Analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.87%. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 210.53%.

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.