LSV Asset Management Acquires 22,103 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Key Points

• LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. by 2.4%, owning approximately 0.86% of the company, valued at about $27.5 million.
• Recent analyst ratings for Highwoods Properties are mixed, with Truist Financial downgrading the stock from "buy" to "hold" and setting a price objective of $32.00.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, with an annualized yield of 7.0%, scheduled for payout on September 9th.

LSV Asset Management increased its position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 928,003 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 22,103 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management owned 0.86% of Highwoods Properties worth $27,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 87.4% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,118,701 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $181,358,000 after buying an additional 2,852,877 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Highwoods Properties during the fourth quarter worth $32,727,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Highwoods Properties by 512.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,066,508 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Highwoods Properties by 29.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 416,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,600,000. 96.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on HIW shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Highwoods Properties from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $32.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Highwoods Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.00.

Highwoods Properties Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of HIW traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $28.71. 718,809 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 994,284. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12 and a beta of 1.21. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.18 and a 52 week high of $36.78. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $200.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.22 million. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 16.15%. The company's revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Highwoods Properties's payout ratio is presently 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.