KBC Group NV Cuts Stock Holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

KBC Group NV lowered its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 94.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,773 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 85,837 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of HIW. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 375.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 855 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY purchased a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties during the first quarter worth about $59,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 124.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,434 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 363.7% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 2,331 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HIW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Truist Financial downgraded 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Highwoods Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.83.

Highwoods Properties Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE HIW opened at $30.75 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $30.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.40. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.19 and a 52-week high of $36.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.10 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 21.53%. The company had revenue of $200.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.50%. Highwoods Properties's payout ratio is currently 124.22%.

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.

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