Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lessened its stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 367,762 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,466 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $9,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 356.3% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 219,555 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,749,000 after purchasing an additional 171,435 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 57,081 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,495,000 after buying an additional 3,229 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA increased its stake in Highwoods Properties by 86.5% during the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 61,432 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,540,000 after buying an additional 28,493 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 5.9% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 233,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,125,000 after acquiring an additional 13,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 102.8% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 59,619 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 30,219 shares in the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Highwoods Properties presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.75.

Highwoods Properties Stock Up 1.6 %

HIW stock traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $31.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 233,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,093,558. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.12 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.06 and a 52-week high of $31.20.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.31). Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 18.30% and a return on equity of 6.33%. The company had revenue of $204.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 163.93%.

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.