Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Shares Sold by Atlas Capital Advisors Inc.

Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 76.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,646 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 12,128 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $111,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,727,000. Aew Capital Management L P purchased a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties during the fourth quarter worth about $31,250,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Highwoods Properties by 40.9% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,265,824 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $99,869,000 after buying an additional 556,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in Highwoods Properties by 55.9% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 454,670 shares in the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

Shares of HIW stock opened at $27.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.57 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $28.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.52 and a 12 month high of $36.78.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 4.33% and a net margin of 12.37%. Sell-side analysts predict that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.37%. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 210.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HIW. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial cut their target price on Highwoods Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Highwoods Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Highwoods Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

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.