BNP Paribas Financial Markets Raises Stock Holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 65.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,562 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,587 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Highwoods Properties by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 13,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 3.6% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 10,766 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Presima Securities ULC boosted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 52,536 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,760,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 21,537 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

NYSE:HIW opened at $31.33 on Tuesday. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.37 and a twelve month high of $36.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.38 and a beta of 1.24.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 6.05% and a net margin of 17.40%. The business had revenue of $204.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.96 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is currently 149.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HIW has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $31.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.20.

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.