Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys 383 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of HIW. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Highwoods Properties during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,727,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 512.9% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,274,443 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,961,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,508 shares during the period. Aew Capital Management L P purchased a new position in Highwoods Properties in the fourth quarter worth about $31,250,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,265,824 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $99,869,000 after buying an additional 556,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 55.9% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,267,553 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,762,000 after buying an additional 454,670 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on HIW. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Highwoods Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Highwoods Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.83.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

HIW opened at $31.46 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.12 and a beta of 1.21. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.19 and a 1-year high of $36.78. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.01. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 4.33%. The firm had revenue of $200.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is 124.22%.

Highwoods Properties 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.