Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) had its target price increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $32.00 to $35.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on HIW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.33.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

Shares of HIW traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $33.53. 51,519 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 988,617. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.31. Highwoods Properties has a twelve month low of $17.17 and a twelve month high of $36.78. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.46. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.66 and a beta of 1.26.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.74). The company had revenue of $204.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.96 million. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 6.05% and a net margin of 17.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Highwoods Properties will post 3.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.96%. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 149.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 13,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 3.6% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 10,766 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Highwoods Properties by 11.7% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,206 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 5.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Presima Securities ULC increased its position in Highwoods Properties by 1.0% during the third quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 52,536 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,760,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

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.