Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW – Get Rating) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.00.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Credit Suisse Group lowered their price objective on Highwoods Properties to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 20th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Highwoods Properties from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 19th. Robert W. Baird cut Highwoods Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 9.4% during the third quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 17,239,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $464,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475,867 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 1.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,319,629 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $439,978,000 after purchasing an additional 193,977 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 0.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,399,371 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $218,794,000 after purchasing an additional 55,672 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 3.4% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,312,711 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $181,641,000 after purchasing an additional 175,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 3.1% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,251,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $60,695,000 after purchasing an additional 68,008 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.57% of the company’s stock.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Shares of HIW opened at $29.91 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $28.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Highwoods Properties has a 12 month low of $24.51 and a 12 month high of $47.24.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.69%. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.33%.

Highwoods Properties Company Profile

(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.