Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) Given New $31.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) had its price target trimmed by Jefferies Financial Group from $35.00 to $31.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective 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 lifted 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 note on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.17.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE HIW opened at $30.66 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $31.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.14. Highwoods Properties has a 52 week low of $21.37 and a 52 week 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 company has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.74). The firm had revenue of $204.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.96 million. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 17.40% and a return on equity of 6.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Highwoods Properties will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 149.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Highwoods Properties

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Highwoods Properties during the 3rd quarter worth $208,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 40.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,130,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $107,155,000 after buying an additional 908,401 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,902,036 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $63,754,000 after buying an additional 12,958 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 19,141 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 537.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 485,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,264,000 after acquiring an additional 409,258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

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.