Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 53.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 9,104 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Spirit of America Management Corp NY purchased a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties during the first quarter worth about $59,000. Everhart Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 42.1% during the first quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,652 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 4,933 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 11.7% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,964 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties during the first quarter worth about $234,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties during the first quarter worth about $1,045,000. 96.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HIW. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Highwoods Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Highwoods Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.83.

Highwoods Properties Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of HIW stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $31.24. 933,733 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 932,376. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $30.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.39. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.19 and a 12-month high of $36.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.01. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 21.53% and a return on equity of 7.43%. 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 previous year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors 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 yield of 6.40%. Highwoods Properties's payout ratio is currently 124.22%.

Highwoods Properties Company Profile

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.