Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Stock Position Lifted by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 54.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,321 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 14,567 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $1,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HIW. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 537.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 485,368 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $16,264,000 after acquiring an additional 409,258 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in Highwoods Properties by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 9,766 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 2,610 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 70,906 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,168,000 after purchasing an additional 3,362 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $822,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,025 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $490,000 after buying an additional 1,970 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.31% of the company's stock.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HIW traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $29.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 886,257 shares, compared to its average volume of 914,045. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.07 and a 1-year high of $36.78. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $28.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53 and a beta of 1.20.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last posted 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 analyst estimates 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 was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.68%. Highwoods Properties's dividend payout ratio is currently 124.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on HIW shares. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.50.

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.