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

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,830,000 shares, an increase of 18.7% from the August 15th total of 4,070,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,030,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Highwoods Properties

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HIW. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Highwoods Properties by 14.1% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 28,170 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,289,000 after buying an additional 3,480 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Highwoods Properties during the first quarter worth approximately $215,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in Highwoods Properties by 34.0% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 67,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,101,000 after buying an additional 17,208 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in Highwoods Properties by 11.1% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 38,442 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,758,000 after buying an additional 3,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its position in Highwoods Properties by 5.8% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 144,790 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,847,000 after buying an additional 7,918 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

NYSE:HIW opened at $22.59 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.07. The company has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.68 and a beta of 1.17. Highwoods Properties has a 52-week low of $19.45 and a 52-week high of $31.88.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 18th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 138.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on HIW. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. SpectralCast reissued a “maintains” rating on shares of Highwoods Properties in a research note on Tuesday, May 30th. 888 restated a “maintains” rating on shares of Highwoods Properties in a research report on Tuesday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Highwoods Properties in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.57.

About Highwoods Properties

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. The Company is a fully-integrated office 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.