Vanguard Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,310,804 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 60,210 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 16.38% of Highwoods Properties worth $397,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 42.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,614,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $105,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364,176 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,328,382 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,459,000 after purchasing an additional 9,397 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments bought a new stake in Highwoods Properties in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,833,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,898,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $43,580,000 after purchasing an additional 124,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 47.6% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,565,801 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,271,000 after purchasing an additional 504,777 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Highwoods Properties from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.75.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Shares of HIW stock opened at $25.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s fifty day moving average is $25.90 and its 200 day moving average is $24.47. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.06 and a twelve month high of $28.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.84%. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is 163.93%.

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.