Simon Quick Advisors LLC Grows Position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. $HIW

Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 131.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 10,378 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Highwoods Properties during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in Highwoods Properties during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 292.5% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,680 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 1,252 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Highwoods Properties during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,060 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David John Hartzell sold 4,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.10, for a total transaction of $138,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 27,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $882,396.90. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Shares of HIW stock opened at $28.69 on Friday. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.18 and a 52-week high of $34.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.52 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.29.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 5.48% and a net margin of 15.98%.The firm had revenue of $201.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $205.74 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Highwoods Properties’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Highwoods Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.410-3.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 170.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on HIW shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Highwoods Properties in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, New Street Research set a $30.00 price objective on Highwoods Properties in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.14.

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.