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

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) saw a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,420,000 shares, a decrease of 11.2% from the January 15th total of 4,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 954,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days. Currently, 4.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Highwoods Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Highwoods Properties has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.71.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

NYSE HIW traded down $0.32 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $28.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 931,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 905,637. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $29.77 and a 200 day moving average of $31.61. Highwoods Properties has a one year low of $23.12 and a one year high of $36.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 21.54 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 17.40% and a return on equity of 6.05%. Analysts expect that Highwoods Properties will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 149.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 21,404 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 86,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,636,000 after buying an additional 20,500 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 88.4% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,137 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 1,472 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 257,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,868,000 after buying an additional 41,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Highwoods Properties by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 330,740 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,114,000 after acquiring an additional 79,256 shares during the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.