Aberdeen Group plc Sells 15,530 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. $HIW

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc reduced its stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. by 34.2%, selling 15,530 shares and retaining 29,923 shares valued at approximately $887,000.
• Highwoods properties announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 6.9%.
• Analyst ratings for Highwoods Properties include a downgrade from "hold" to "sell" by Wall Street Zen and various analysts adjusting price targets, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of $32.00.

Aberdeen Group plc lowered its position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 34.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,923 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 15,530 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc's holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in HIW. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in Highwoods Properties in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY acquired a new position in Highwoods Properties in the 1st quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Highwoods Properties in the 1st quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors own 96.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on HIW shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Highwoods Properties from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $32.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Highwoods Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.00.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

NYSE:HIW traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $30.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,376,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,276,249. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.18 and a twelve month high of $36.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.91 and a beta of 1.21. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $30.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.04. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 5.57%. The business had revenue of $200.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.22 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Highwoods Properties's revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Highwoods Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.370-3.450 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Highwoods Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 168.07%.

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.