Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) Reaches New 12-Month High at $26.35

Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $26.35 and last traded at $26.28, with a volume of 329267 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Highwoods Properties in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.38.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 163.93%.

Institutional Trading of Highwoods Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HIW. PGGM Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,833,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 42.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,614,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $105,952,000 after acquiring an additional 1,364,176 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 7.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,371,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $358,017,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,688 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties in the fourth quarter valued at about $24,306,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 47.6% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,565,801 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,271,000 after acquiring an additional 504,777 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

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.