Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 313,405 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 20.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,228,581 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 313,405 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 1.14% of Highwoods Properties worth $36,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,265,824 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $99,869,000 after purchasing an additional 556,828 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Highwoods Properties by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,854,835 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $56,721,000 after buying an additional 416,791 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,328,543 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,627,000 after buying an additional 323,946 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 512.9% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,274,443 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $38,961,000 after buying an additional 1,066,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties during the 4th quarter valued at $32,727,000. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Shares of HIW traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $30.37. 1,026,996 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 928,823. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $24.19 and a one year high of $36.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.86 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $30.72 and a 200-day moving average of $29.46.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.01. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 21.53% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The company had revenue of $200.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $201.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. Highwoods Properties's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.59%. Highwoods Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 124.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HIW. Mizuho boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Highwoods Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered shares of Highwoods Properties from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $32.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.00.

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.