Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 214,666 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $6,565,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.20% of Highwoods Properties as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HIW. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 131.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,708,996 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $90,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,067 shares during the period. Aew Capital Management L P purchased a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties during the fourth quarter valued at $31,250,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 40.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,130,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $107,155,000 after purchasing an additional 908,401 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 472.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 885,541 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,674,000 after purchasing an additional 730,859 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 55.9% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,267,553 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,762,000 after purchasing an additional 454,670 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HIW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Highwoods Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Highwoods Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.86.

Highwoods Properties Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:HIW opened at $28.81 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 30.32 and a beta of 1.25. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $29.14 and a 200 day moving average of $31.21. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.52 and a 1-year high of $36.78.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 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, research analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.94%. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.