Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Wolfe Research

Key Points

• Wolfe Research has upgraded Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) to a "strong-buy" rating, reflecting a positive outlook from analysts.
• Other analysts have mixed views on HIW, with price targets ranging from $29.00 to $33.00 and a majority recommending a "hold" rating.
• Despite these upgrades, Highwoods Properties' shares recently fell by 2.2%, and the stock has a high of $36.78 and a low of $24.18 over the past year.

Analysts at Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm set an "outperform" rating and a $38.00 price target on the real estate investment trust's stock. Wolfe Research's price objective indicates a potential upside of 22.98% from the stock's current price.

A number of other analysts have also commented on HIW. Wall Street Zen lowered Highwoods Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Highwoods Properties in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho lifted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.67.

Highwoods Properties Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:HIW opened at $30.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.97 and a beta of 1.24. Highwoods Properties has a 12-month low of $24.18 and a 12-month high of $36.78. 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 (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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $200.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $203.22 million. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 16.15%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Highwoods Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.370-3.450 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Highwoods Properties

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

Institutional Trading of Highwoods Properties

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 1.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,564,027 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $204,076,000 after acquiring an additional 86,506 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 87.4% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,118,701 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $181,358,000 after purchasing an additional 2,852,877 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 0.3% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,660,872 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $108,509,000 after purchasing an additional 10,331 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 15.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,959,480 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $87,719,000 after purchasing an additional 388,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 0.4% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,190,938 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $68,116,000 after purchasing an additional 8,525 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.