Brokerages Set Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Price Target at $31.83

Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Hold" from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.83.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HIW. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Highwoods Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Highwoods Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Highwoods Properties

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Highwoods Properties by 87.4% in 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 buying an additional 2,852,877 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 0.3% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,660,872 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $108,509,000 after purchasing an additional 10,331 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position 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 worth $87,719,000 after purchasing an additional 388,332 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,133,242 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $65,235,000 after purchasing an additional 71,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 135,059 shares in the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HIW traded down $0.21 on Thursday, hitting $31.09. 1,257,078 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 932,215. The company's 50 day moving average price is $29.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.37. Highwoods Properties has a one year low of $24.19 and a one year high of $36.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 1.21.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.01. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 21.53% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The company had revenue of $200.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The business's revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Highwoods Properties will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

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