Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 20,458 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 534,155 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 20,458 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.50% of Highwoods Properties worth $15,832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HIW. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 35.7% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 28,920 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 7,601 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Highwoods Properties in the 1st quarter worth approximately $210,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 23,384 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,568 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 158,029 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,684,000 after acquiring an additional 922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 53.9% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 9,104 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HIW has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial lowered Highwoods Properties from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $32.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Highwoods Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

NYSE HIW traded down $0.80 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $31.11. The company had a trading volume of 480,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 929,765. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.32 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.19 and a fifty-two week high of $36.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.42.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.01. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 21.53%. The business had revenue of $200.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. Highwoods Properties's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Highwoods Properties's dividend payout ratio is 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.