Teacher Retirement System of Texas Increases Position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 35.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,920 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,601 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $857,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HIW. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Highwoods Properties in the first quarter valued at about $210,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 18.0% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 23,384 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $693,000 after buying an additional 3,568 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 0.6% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 158,029 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,684,000 after buying an additional 922 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 53.9% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 9,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY bought a new stake in Highwoods Properties in the first quarter valued at about $59,000. 96.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HIW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Highwoods Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Mizuho upped their target price on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial lowered Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $32.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Highwoods Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.00.

Highwoods Properties Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE:HIW opened at $31.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.82 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.59 and a 200-day moving average of $29.42. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.19 and a 52 week high of $36.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $200.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.31 million. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 21.53%. The business’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.27%. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 124.22%.

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.