Highwoods Properties, Inc. $HIW Shares Bought by Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Pacific Heights Asset Management boosted its Highwoods Properties stake by 40% in Q4, buying 100,000 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 350,000 shares worth about $9.0 million.
• Highwoods Properties reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.29 versus $0.16 expected and revenue of $214.03 million, up 6.8% year over year.
• The REIT approved a $250 million share buyback and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, which annualizes to a 7.9% yield.

Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 40.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 350,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC owned about 0.32% of Highwoods Properties worth $9,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HIW. Aew Capital Management L P lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 95.4% during the 3rd quarter. Aew Capital Management L P now owns 2,344,571 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $74,604,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,991 shares in the last quarter. GRS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter. GRS Advisors LLC now owns 2,046,809 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $65,129,000 after acquiring an additional 799,339 shares in the last quarter. Bayhunt Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties during the 4th quarter valued at $13,125,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 88.1% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 910,271 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $28,965,000 after acquiring an additional 426,241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,903,497 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $436,448,000 after acquiring an additional 407,406 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.31% of the company's stock.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

Shares of HIW stock opened at $25.48 on Monday. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.45 and a 12 month high of $32.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.33 and a beta of 1.08. The company's fifty day moving average price is $22.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.05.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.13. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 3.97%. The firm had revenue of $214.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $209.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Highwoods Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.400-3.68 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the real estate investment trust to buy up to 9.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.9%. Highwoods Properties's payout ratio is currently 238.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HIW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $23.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $24.00 to $23.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.78.

Highwoods Properties Company Profile

Highwoods Properties, Inc is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, leases and manages office properties. The company's portfolio is primarily focused on Class A office space, with an emphasis on high-quality buildings in key urban and suburban submarkets. Highwoods seeks to generate long-term, recurring revenues through a mix of in-place lease renewals, strategic dispositions and build-to-suit developments. Its asset management platform drives operational efficiencies and tenant service initiatives across its holdings.

Founded in 1970 and headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, Highwoods Properties has expanded its presence to eight major metropolitan regions across the Southeastern United States and Texas.

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