Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Shares Acquired by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,625 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 269.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 2,350 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 55.8% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Highwoods Properties by 35.1% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,114 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 19.5% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,026 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 22.6% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,056 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 1,299 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

NYSE HIW opened at $31.62 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $33.22 and its 200-day moving average is $30.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60 and a beta of 1.24. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.72 and a 12-month high of $36.78.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 149.25%.

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.