Point72 Asset Management L.P. Acquires 175,499 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 436.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 215,724 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 175,499 shares during the quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.20% of Highwoods Properties worth $7,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PGGM Investments boosted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 77.9% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 3,629,485 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $95,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,589,730 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 131.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,708,996 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $90,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,067 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 472.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 885,541 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $29,674,000 after buying an additional 730,859 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 109.5% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 552,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $14,501,000 after buying an additional 288,500 shares during the period. Finally, M&G PLC raised its stake in Highwoods Properties by 26.8% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 631,159 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $21,459,000 after buying an additional 133,575 shares in the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HIW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Highwoods Properties from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.20.

Highwoods Properties Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of HIW traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $31.62. The company had a trading volume of 668,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 979,417. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.31. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.52. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.72 and a 52 week high of $36.78.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.74). Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 17.40% and a return on equity of 6.05%. The company had revenue of $204.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $204.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.62 EPS for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.33%. Highwoods Properties's dividend payout ratio is currently 149.25%.

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.