Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Short Interest Update

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,220,000 shares, an increase of 19.2% from the December 15th total of 4,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 989,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HIW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.86.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Highwoods Properties

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in Highwoods Properties during the second quarter valued at $288,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 121,512 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,021,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,955 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Highwoods Properties by 3.0% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 247,416 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,500,000 after purchasing an additional 7,156 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 86.8% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,172,929 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,813,000 after purchasing an additional 545,066 shares during the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:HIW traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.27. The stock had a trading volume of 575,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,842. Highwoods Properties has a 12-month low of $21.46 and a 12-month high of $36.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.31. The company has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50 day moving average is $30.89 and its 200-day moving average is $31.45.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.74). Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 17.40% and a return on equity of 6.05%. The business had revenue of $204.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Highwoods Properties will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.61%. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is 149.25%.

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.