Wall Street Zen Downgrades Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) to Sell

Key Points

• Highwoods Properties has been downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating.
• Several analysts have adjusted their ratings and price targets for the stock, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.00.
• Shares of Highwoods Properties recently opened at $29.30, down 1.2%, with the firm reporting earnings of $0.89 EPS, surpassing expectations but showing a revenue decline of 2% year-over-year.

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

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial lowered Highwoods Properties from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $32.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Highwoods Properties presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.00.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Shares of Highwoods Properties stock traded up $0.3330 during trading on Friday, hitting $29.2030. The stock had a trading volume of 273,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 999,745. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.53 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day moving average of $30.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.42. Highwoods Properties has a fifty-two week low of $24.18 and a fifty-two week high of $36.78.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Highwoods Properties in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $180,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its position in Highwoods Properties by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 24,887 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 3,173 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 6.6% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 415,772 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $12,926,000 after purchasing an additional 25,848 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 6.3% in the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 270,041 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,396,000 after purchasing an additional 15,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 562.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,552 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 2,167 shares in the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is 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.