Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Receives $32.50 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.50.

HIW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Highwoods Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Highwoods Properties

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Highwoods Properties by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,105 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Highwoods Properties by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,278 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,908 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 22,514 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 17,106 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.31% of the company's stock.

Highwoods Properties Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of HIW traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $30.47. The stock had a trading volume of 58,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 910,844. Highwoods Properties has a 1-year low of $24.07 and a 1-year high of $36.78. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $28.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.82. The company has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.10 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.01. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 4.33%. The firm had revenue of $200.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.31 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. Highwoods Properties's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Highwoods Properties will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Highwoods Properties's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.