CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Buys 12,722 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 248,879 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 12,722 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned approximately 0.23% of Highwoods Properties worth $7,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HIW. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake 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 valued at $99,869,000 after acquiring an additional 556,828 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 40.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,130,452 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $107,155,000 after buying an additional 908,401 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,133,242 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $65,235,000 after acquiring an additional 71,670 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 290,356 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 323,946 shares during the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Stock Up 2.2 %

HIW opened at $27.69 on Wednesday. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.07 and a fifty-two week high of $36.78. The company's 50-day moving average is $28.31 and its 200 day moving average is $30.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15 and a beta of 1.15. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 4.33% and a net margin of 12.37%. Research analysts expect that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.22%. Highwoods Properties's payout ratio is currently 210.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.50.

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.

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