Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Short Interest Up 22.5% in July

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,440,000 shares, a growth of 22.5% from the June 30th total of 4,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 867,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.3 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Highwoods Properties

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 383.5% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 220,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,061,000 after acquiring an additional 174,836 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 104.4% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 263,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,898,000 after purchasing an additional 134,600 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties in the fourth quarter worth about $1,333,000. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties in the first quarter worth about $10,047,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 162.1% in the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 59,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after buying an additional 37,002 shares in the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of HIW stock traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $30.65. 1,197,742 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,099,486. Highwoods Properties has a 1 year low of $17.06 and a 1 year high of $30.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $26.64 and a 200 day moving average of $25.30. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 25.12 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.31). The company 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Analysts expect that Highwoods Properties will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 163.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HIW has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.25.

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.