Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $30.71.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered Highwoods Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Institutional Trading of Highwoods Properties

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 184.7% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 27,048 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $906,000 after purchasing an additional 17,548 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new stake in Highwoods Properties in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,085,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 436.3% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 215,724 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,229,000 after purchasing an additional 175,499 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 65.1% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,562 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 2,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 141.2% in the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 36,647 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 21,455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.31% of the company's stock.

Highwoods Properties Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE HIW traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $29.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,289,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 932,986. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $29.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.57. Highwoods Properties has a twelve month low of $23.14 and a twelve month high of $36.78. 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 market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76 and a beta of 1.24.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 4.33%. Analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Highwoods Properties's dividend payout ratio is currently 210.53%.

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.