Commerce Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Commerce Bank cut its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 5.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,930 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,089 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $1,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Highwoods Properties by 356.3% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 219,555 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,749,000 after purchasing an additional 171,435 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties in the third quarter valued at about $2,085,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 184.7% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 27,048 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $906,000 after acquiring an additional 17,548 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 848,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,294,000 after acquiring an additional 58,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc increased its position in Highwoods Properties by 28.8% during the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 497,584 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,937,000 after purchasing an additional 111,148 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HIW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Highwoods Properties has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.20.

Highwoods Properties Stock Up 0.2 %

HIW stock opened at $31.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 23.85 and a beta of 1.26. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.58 and a 52 week high of $36.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.46 and a 200 day moving average of $30.13.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last posted 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 return on equity of 6.05% and a net margin of 17.40%. The company had revenue of $204.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.