Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 26.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 5.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,719 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 3.7% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 19,141 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 26.1% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,111 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Stock Down 0.8 %

HIW stock opened at $29.22 on Monday. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.14 and a fifty-two week high of $36.78. The business’s 50-day moving average is $29.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 210.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Highwoods Properties 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.