HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 551 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,958 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 551 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HIW. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 2.8% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 13,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 3.6% in the 2nd 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. increased its stake in Highwoods Properties by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the period. Presima Securities ULC raised its stake in Highwoods Properties by 1.0% in the third quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 52,536 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,760,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 21,537 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $566,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Stock Up 2.4 %

HIW stock opened at $30.08 on Friday. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.37 and a twelve month high of $36.78. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.45 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $32.76 and its 200-day moving average is $30.82.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.74). The business had revenue of $204.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.96 million. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 6.05% and a net margin of 17.40%. The business’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.65%. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is presently 149.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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