Schroder Investment Management Group Reduces Stock Position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Schroder Investment Management Group trimmed its holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW - Free Report) by 64.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 80,240 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 145,475 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned 0.08% of Highwoods Properties worth $2,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in Highwoods Properties by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,289,806 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $244,281,000 after buying an additional 124,646 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,130,452 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $107,155,000 after acquiring an additional 908,401 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,133,242 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $65,235,000 after acquiring an additional 71,670 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,902,036 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $63,754,000 after acquiring an additional 12,958 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 23.2% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HIW. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on 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 started coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Highwoods Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.50.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Highwoods Properties stock traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $26.38. The stock had a trading volume of 669,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 916,767. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.52 and a 1-year high of $36.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.77 and a beta of 1.15. The stock's fifty day moving average is $28.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.66. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 4.33%. As a group, analysts predict that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.58%. Highwoods Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 210.53%.

Highwoods Properties 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.