New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 11,100 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 136,966 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 11,100 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.13% of Highwoods Properties worth $4,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Highwoods Properties in the 4th quarter worth about $32,727,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted 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 worth $38,961,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,508 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in 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 boosted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,854,835 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $56,721,000 after purchasing an additional 416,791 shares during the period. Finally, Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC bought a new position in Highwoods Properties in the 4th quarter worth about $11,600,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.31% of the company's stock.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of HIW traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $31.31. 497,011 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 931,320. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.19 and a 1 year high of $36.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.45 and a beta of 1.21. The business's 50-day moving average price is $30.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.42.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.83 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $200.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $201.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.39%. Highwoods Properties's dividend payout ratio is presently 124.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial downgraded 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. 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded 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 issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.83.

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.