Short Interest in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Drops By 11.2%

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,420,000 shares, a drop of 11.2% from the January 15th total of 4,980,000 shares. Approximately 4.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 954,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.6 days.

Highwoods Properties Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of HIW stock traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $28.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 931,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 905,637. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54 and a beta of 1.24. Highwoods Properties has a one year low of $23.12 and a one year high of $36.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 6.05% and a net margin of 17.40%. Equities research analysts expect that Highwoods Properties will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.50 dividend. 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 6.93%. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 149.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Highwoods Properties

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HIW. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 131.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,708,996 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $90,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,067 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,727,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 512.9% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,274,443 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,961,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,508 shares in the last quarter. Aew Capital Management L P bought a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,250,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 40.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,130,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $107,155,000 after purchasing an additional 908,401 shares in the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.