Highwoods Properties, Inc. $HIW Stock: VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Reduces Holdings

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lessened its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 88.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 57,900 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HIW. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Highwoods Properties in the second quarter valued at approximately $633,717,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 133.8% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 1,808,104 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,712,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,694 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,639,419 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,139,000 after purchasing an additional 98,531 shares in the last quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 1,284,718 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,747,000 after purchasing an additional 3,370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,595,000. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Highwoods Properties in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Huntington started coverage on Highwoods Properties in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Highwoods Properties from $23.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of HIW stock opened at $31.49 on Monday. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.45 and a 12 month high of $35.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The business’s 50 day moving average is $30.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.63. The company has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64 and a beta of 1.08.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $218.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $216.39 million. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 22.56% and a return on equity of 7.68%. Highwoods Properties’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.34%.

About Highwoods Properties

Highwoods Properties, Inc is a real estate investment trust that owns, develops, leases and manages office properties. Its portfolio is concentrated in business districts across the U.S. Sun Belt, including markets such as Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Raleigh and Tampa.

The company provides office space and related property management services to businesses across a range of industries. Its work includes developing and maintaining properties as well as leasing space to commercial tenants.

Highwoods is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.