Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW – Get Rating) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.04, MarketWatch Earnings reports. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 40.63%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Highwoods Properties updated its FY 2022 guidance to $3.820-$3.980 EPS and its FY22 guidance to $3.82-3.98 EPS.

Shares of HIW remained flat at $$43.12 during midday trading on Wednesday. The stock had a trading volume of 32,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 777,625. Highwoods Properties has a 1-year low of $40.85 and a 1-year high of $48.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $44.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.57. The firm has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 20th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.64%. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.34%.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 58,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,525,000 after buying an additional 814 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 1,509 shares during the period. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 25,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares in the last quarter. Vident Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Vident Investment Advisory LLC now owns 55,049 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,454,000 after acquiring an additional 1,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 76,013 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,934 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

HIW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research report on Friday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Highwoods Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 12th. TheStreet upgraded Highwoods Properties from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Highwoods Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Monday, January 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.60.

About Highwoods Properties (Get Rating)

Highwoods Properties, Inc, headquartered in Raleigh, is a publicly-traded (NYSE:HIW) real estate investment trust (REIT) and a member of the S&P MidCap 400 Index. Highwoods is a fully-integrated office REIT that owns, develops, acquires, leases and manages properties primarily in the best business districts (BBDs) of Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa.

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