Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Highwoods Properties has been downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen as of Friday, reflecting analyst concerns about the stock's performance.
• The stock has a consensus target price of $31.60, with a mixed analyst outlook, including one Buy, five Hold, and recent price target increases from Truist Financial and Mizuho.
• In a recent earnings report, Highwoods Properties reported an EPS of $0.89, exceeding expectations, but showed a 2% decline in revenue year-over-year, indicating potential challenges ahead.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Several other analysts also recently commented on HIW. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Mizuho increased their price target on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Highwoods Properties in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.60.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of HIW stock traded up $0.23 on Friday, reaching $32.43. The company had a trading volume of 806,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,085,051. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of 27.25 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $30.61 and a 200-day moving average of $29.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Highwoods Properties has a 12 month low of $24.18 and a 12 month high of $36.78.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.04. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 5.57%. The firm had revenue of $200.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $203.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Highwoods Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.370-3.450 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Highwoods Properties

In related news, Director David John Hartzell sold 4,300 shares of Highwoods Properties stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.10, for a total value of $138,030.00. Following the sale, the director owned 27,489 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $882,396.90. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Avalon Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,252 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 67.3% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,803 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY bought a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties in the 1st quarter valued at about $59,000. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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