Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $18.00 to $21.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Highwoods Properties traded as high as $26.27 and last traded at $26.09, with a volume of 32796 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.93.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on Highwoods Properties from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Highwoods Properties in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 17,500,375 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $418,425,000 after acquiring an additional 70,232 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 7.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,371,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $358,017,000 after buying an additional 1,139,688 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 12,747,900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $304,802,000 after buying an additional 229,179 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Highwoods Properties by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,974,055 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $161,728,000 after acquiring an additional 476,481 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Highwoods Properties by 42.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,614,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $105,952,000 after acquiring an additional 1,364,176 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 0.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $23.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 143.89%.

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.