M&G Plc Has $21.46 Million Position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

M&G PLC lifted its position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 631,159 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 133,575 shares during the quarter. M&G PLC owned 0.60% of Highwoods Properties worth $21,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HIW. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 141.2% during 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. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 7.7% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,099 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $841,000 after buying an additional 1,795 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 10.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,856 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 1,914 shares during the period. Optas LLC acquired a new stake in Highwoods Properties during the 3rd quarter worth $238,000. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 97.7% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 37,677 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 18,616 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.31% of the company's stock.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

Shares of HIW traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $33.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,427,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 998,180. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.64. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.17 and a 1-year high of $36.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.22 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.74). The company had revenue of $204.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.96 million. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 6.05% and a net margin of 17.40%. The company's revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Highwoods Properties's payout ratio is currently 149.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Highwoods Properties from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $29.33.

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.