Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys New Holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. $HIW

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Highwoods Properties, Inc., purchasing 9,568 shares valued at approximately $300,000 in the second quarter.
• Highwoods Properties reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the recent quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate, but had a 2% decline in revenue compared to the prior year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, with an annualized yield of 6.3%, despite a high payout ratio of 168.07%.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,568 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $300,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 87.4% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,118,701 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $181,358,000 after buying an additional 2,852,877 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Highwoods Properties by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,660,872 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $108,509,000 after buying an additional 10,331 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,959,480 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $87,719,000 after purchasing an additional 388,332 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 7.3% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,989,894 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $58,980,000 after buying an additional 135,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aew Capital Management L P boosted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Aew Capital Management L P now owns 1,158,110 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $34,326,000 after purchasing an additional 136,200 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Highwoods Properties

In other Highwoods Properties news, Director David John Hartzell sold 4,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.10, for a total transaction of $138,030.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 27,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $882,396.90. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

Shares of HIW stock opened at $31.59 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $30.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.03. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.18 and a 52 week high of $36.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.55 and a beta of 1.24.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.04. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 5.57%. The business had revenue of $200.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.22 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Highwoods Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.370-3.450 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Highwoods Properties's payout ratio is presently 168.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HIW shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research note on Wednesday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Highwoods Properties in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.67.

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.

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