Rhumbline Advisers Sells 18,642 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Rhumbline Advisers decreased its position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 262,979 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 18,642 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.25% of Highwoods Properties worth $8,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 131.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,708,996 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $90,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,067 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,130,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $107,155,000 after acquiring an additional 908,401 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 472.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 885,541 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,674,000 after purchasing an additional 730,859 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 537.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 485,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,264,000 after purchasing an additional 409,258 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 319.1% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 479,972 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,678,000 after purchasing an additional 365,454 shares in the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

NYSE:HIW opened at $28.90 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.56. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.14 and a 1-year high of $36.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 30.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 4.33%. On average, research analysts expect that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 210.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on HIW. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Highwoods Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.71.

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.