Empowered Funds LLC Makes New $367,000 Investment in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 11,995 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $367,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in Highwoods Properties by 184.7% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 27,048 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $906,000 after acquiring an additional 17,548 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new stake in Highwoods Properties in the 3rd quarter worth $2,085,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 436.3% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 215,724 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,229,000 after purchasing an additional 175,499 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 65.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,562 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 2,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 141.2% during the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 36,647 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after buying an additional 21,455 shares during the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on HIW shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Highwoods Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.71.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

Highwoods Properties stock opened at $29.46 on Friday. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.14 and a 52-week high of $36.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.01 and a beta of 1.24.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 4.33%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is currently 210.53%.

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.