Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.50

Key Points

• Highwoods Properties, Inc. has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.00 and a yield of 6.62%, with the payment scheduled for September 9th to shareholders of record on August 18th.
• The company has a high dividend payout ratio of 289.9%, indicating it is currently relying on its balance sheet to fund dividends, although future earnings projections suggest a more manageable payout ratio of 55.7% next year.
• Highwoods Properties' stock currently has an average "Hold" rating from analysts, with a consensus price target of $32.00, as various firms have adjusted their ratings and target prices recently.

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 25th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, September 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th.

Highwoods Properties has a dividend payout ratio of 289.9% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect Highwoods Properties to earn $3.59 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.7%.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Shares of Highwoods Properties stock traded down $0.01 on Friday, reaching $30.22. The stock had a trading volume of 734,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 954,842. Highwoods Properties has a 1 year low of $24.18 and a 1 year high of $36.78. The company has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The business's 50 day moving average is $30.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.46.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $200.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.31 million. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 21.53% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Highwoods Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $32.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Highwoods Properties

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HIW. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Highwoods Properties by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 822,655 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $24,383,000 after buying an additional 110,489 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Highwoods Properties by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 177,942 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,275,000 after buying an additional 19,998 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Highwoods Properties by 292.5% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,680 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 1,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Highwoods Properties by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,243 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.31% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.