Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) Price Target to $31.00

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

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.17.

Highwoods Properties Stock Up 0.4 %

HIW stock opened at $30.78 on Thursday. Highwoods Properties has a 52-week low of $21.37 and a 52-week high of $36.78. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.74). Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 17.40% and a return on equity of 6.05%. The firm had revenue of $204.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.96 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties will post 3.62 EPS for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 149.25%.

Institutional Trading of Highwoods Properties

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,289,806 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $244,281,000 after buying an additional 124,646 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 40.9% during the 3rd 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 131.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,708,996 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $90,778,000 after buying an additional 1,536,067 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,061,572 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $69,083,000 after buying an additional 34,885 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,902,036 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $63,754,000 after buying an additional 12,958 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.