Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,061,572 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,885 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $69,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HIW. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 45.5% in the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,855 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 141.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,073 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties during the 1st quarter worth approximately $107,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 269.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Highwoods Properties by 55.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,167 shares in the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.20.

Highwoods Properties Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:HIW opened at $32.45 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.22 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.25.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.74). The firm had revenue of $204.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.96 million. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 17.40% and a return on equity of 6.05%. The company’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 firm posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.16%. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is currently 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.