Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,220,000 shares, a growth of 19.2% from the December 15th total of 4,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 989,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HIW has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $31.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.86.

Institutional Trading of Highwoods Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HIW. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Highwoods Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 55.8% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,069 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:HIW traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $30.27. 575,596 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 821,842. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.48. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 1.24. Highwoods Properties has a fifty-two week low of $21.46 and a fifty-two week high of $36.78.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $204.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.96 million. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 6.05% and a net margin of 17.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties will post 3.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is 149.25%.

Highwoods Properties Company 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.