Congress Asset Management Co. Reduces Stock Position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Congress Asset Management Co. cut its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 5.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 123,415 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,409 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $4,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. abrdn plc increased its position in Highwoods Properties by 97.7% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 37,677 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 18,616 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at about $259,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 35.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 403.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 67,544 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,263,000 after purchasing an additional 54,115 shares during the period. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties in the third quarter worth approximately $283,000. 96.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Stock Down 2.7 %

HIW opened at $32.64 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $33.31 and its 200 day moving average is $29.38. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.17 and a fifty-two week high of $36.78.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 17.40% and a return on equity of 6.05%. The business had revenue of $204.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. Highwoods Properties’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 149.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $22.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.83.

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.