Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

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

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HIW. Wall Street Zen raised Highwoods Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on 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. Truist Financial cut their price target on Highwoods Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Shares of HIW traded up $0.53 on Friday, hitting $30.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,019,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 923,558. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 31.82 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 has a fifty-two week low of $24.19 and a fifty-two week high of $36.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.44.

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

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Highwoods Properties's payout ratio is 124.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Highwoods Properties

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HIW. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 537.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 485,368 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $16,264,000 after buying an additional 409,258 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,025 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,970 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,752 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 2,499.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 90,610 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,771,000 after purchasing an additional 87,124 shares during the period. Finally, Optas LLC raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 8,036 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.31% of the company's stock.

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.