LPL Financial LLC Raises Position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,266 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $1,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,130,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $107,155,000 after purchasing an additional 908,401 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,133,242 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $65,235,000 after acquiring an additional 71,670 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,902,036 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $63,754,000 after acquiring an additional 12,958 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Highwoods Properties by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,541,986 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,154,000 after purchasing an additional 290,356 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,328,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,627,000 after acquiring an additional 323,946 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on HIW shares. StockNews.com downgraded Highwoods Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Highwoods Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Highwoods Properties presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

Shares of HIW opened at $27.53 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.98 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.48. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.92 and a 1 year high of $36.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 4.33%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 210.53%.

Highwoods Properties Company Profile

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.