Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) Research Coverage Started at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $32.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

HIW has been the topic of a number of other reports. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Highwoods Properties presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.86.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Highwoods Properties stock opened at $28.97 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.25. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 30.50 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Highwoods Properties has a 52-week low of $23.52 and a 52-week high of $36.78.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 4.33% and a net margin of 12.37%. On average, research analysts expect that Highwoods Properties will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.90%. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is currently 210.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in Highwoods Properties by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 21,404 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $655,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in Highwoods Properties by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 86,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,636,000 after buying an additional 20,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming grew its stake in Highwoods Properties by 88.4% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,137 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 1,472 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.