Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on HIW. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 19th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.17.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HIW opened at $32.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.23 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Highwoods Properties has a 52 week low of $24.18 and a 52 week high of $36.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.66.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.04. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 16.15%.The firm had revenue of $200.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Highwoods Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.370-3.450 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is presently 168.07%.

Institutional Trading of Highwoods Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HIW. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 87.4% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,118,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $181,358,000 after acquiring an additional 2,852,877 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Highwoods Properties in the second quarter valued at about $43,203,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 15.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,959,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $87,719,000 after buying an additional 388,332 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 52.8% in the second quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 1,040,302 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,343,000 after buying an additional 359,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GRS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 40.0% in the second quarter. GRS Advisors LLC now owns 1,247,470 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,784,000 after buying an additional 356,530 shares during the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.