Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 70,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,362 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.07% of Highwoods Properties worth $2,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Highwoods Properties during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Highwoods Properties by 269.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 2,350 shares during the period. 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 worth $109,000 after buying an additional 1,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Highwoods Properties by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,114 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on HIW shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.86.

Highwoods Properties Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE HIW opened at $30.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.44 and a beta of 1.24. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $21.46 and a one year high of $36.78. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.31.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last posted its 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). The company 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Highwoods Properties 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.