Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $34.01 and last traded at $33.90, with a volume of 61458 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.61.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $22.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.86.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 1.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.55 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.31). The firm had revenue of $204.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.06 million. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 6.33% and a net margin of 18.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 163.93%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 49,684 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,665,000 after acquiring an additional 5,932 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC purchased a new stake in Highwoods Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,634,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,621,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,026 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

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.