Public Sector Pension Investment Board Raises Stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Highwoods Properties by 47.6%, now owning 389,924 shares valued at approximately $11.56 million.
• Highwoods Properties declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50, translating to an annualized yield of 6.9%, despite having a payout ratio of 168.07%.
• Several analysts have assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" on Highwoods Properties, with a price target averaging $32.00, following recent adjustments by various research firms.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 47.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 389,924 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 125,818 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.36% of Highwoods Properties worth $11,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HIW. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 87.4% during the first 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 acquiring an additional 2,852,877 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 512.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $56,721,000 after acquiring an additional 416,791 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 15.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,959,480 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $87,719,000 after acquiring an additional 388,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,600,000. Institutional investors own 96.31% of the company's stock.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

NYSE:HIW traded down $0.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $29.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 844,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,231,381. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.62 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $30.53 and a 200-day moving average of $29.42. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.18 and a 12 month high of $36.78.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $200.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.22 million. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 16.15%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Highwoods Properties's dividend payout ratio is currently 168.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HIW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. 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 report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Highwoods Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Highwoods Properties has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.00.

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.