Kestra Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. $HIW

Key Points

• Kestra Investment Management LLC has reduced its stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. by 26.6%, now holding 21,714 shares valued at $644,000 as of its latest SEC filing.
• In contrast, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. has significantly increased its position in Highwoods by 87.4%, acquiring over 2.8 million additional shares.
• Highwoods Properties recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, with a dividend yield of 6.3% and a payout ratio of 168.07%.

Kestra Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 26.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,714 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 7,885 shares during the quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC's holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $644,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Highwoods Properties by 87.4% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,118,701 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $181,358,000 after acquiring an additional 2,852,877 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 0.3% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,660,872 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $108,509,000 after buying an additional 10,331 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 15.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,959,480 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $87,719,000 after buying an additional 388,332 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 7.3% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,989,894 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $58,980,000 after buying an additional 135,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 512.9% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.31% of the company's stock.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of HIW stock opened at $31.81 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $30.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.56. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.18 and a twelve month high of $36.78. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $200.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Highwoods Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.370-3.450 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. Highwoods Properties's payout ratio is presently 168.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on HIW shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Mizuho raised their price target on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Highwoods Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.17.

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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