Janus Henderson Group PLC Acquires 1,066,508 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 512.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,274,443 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 1,066,508 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 1.20% of Highwoods Properties worth $38,961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 75,674 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,314,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 10,196 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209 shares during the period. FJ Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Highwoods Properties by 79.4% during the fourth quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 12,786 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 5,660 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Highwoods Properties by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 16,419 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 2,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 276.0% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 212,304 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,492,000 after buying an additional 155,843 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised Highwoods Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Truist Financial decreased 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 initiated coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.83.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HIW traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $30.02. 393,243 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 913,116. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $28.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.67. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.61 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $24.07 and a one year high of $36.78.

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

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Highwoods Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.