Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 13.62% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Highwoods Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Mizuho raised their price target on Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.86.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE HIW opened at $28.16 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.65 and a beta of 1.25. Highwoods Properties has a 1-year low of $23.52 and a 1-year high of $36.78. The business’s 50 day moving average is $29.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 4.33% and a net margin of 12.37%. As a group, research analysts expect that Highwoods Properties will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Highwoods Properties

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 375.0% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 855 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Highwoods Properties during the third quarter worth $48,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Highwoods Properties by 124.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,434 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 363.7% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 2,331 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.