Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $36.78 and last traded at $36.43, with a volume of 239871 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $22.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.50.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.90. The company has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.82 and a beta of 1.26.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.74). The business had revenue of $204.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.96 million. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 18.30% and a return on equity of 6.33%. The business’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.55%. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is 163.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Highwoods Properties

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Highwoods Properties by 113.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 110,576 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after acquiring an additional 58,748 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 4.9% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 9,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Oak Thistle LLC raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 28.2% during the first quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 13,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 3,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 245.6% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 430,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,283,000 after purchasing an additional 306,265 shares during the period. 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.