Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 534,155 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 20,458 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.50% of Highwoods Properties worth $15,832,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HIW. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Highwoods Properties by 375.0% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in Highwoods Properties by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,505 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Highwoods Properties in the 4th quarter worth approximately $674,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Highwoods Properties in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,565,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Highwoods Properties by 45.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 110,120 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,225,000 after purchasing an additional 34,403 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on 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 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Highwoods Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.83.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

NYSE HIW traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.43. The stock had a trading volume of 693,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 932,297. The firm's 50 day moving average is $30.59 and its 200 day moving average is $29.44. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.19 and a twelve month high of $36.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52 and a beta of 1.21.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $200.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Highwoods Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.