Jefferies Financial Group Has Lowered Expectations for Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) Stock Price

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) had its target price decreased by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $35.00 to $31.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 2.24% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.17.

Highwoods Properties Trading Down 0.9 %

Highwoods Properties stock traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $30.32. 71,482 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 849,756. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Highwoods Properties has a 12-month low of $21.37 and a 12-month high of $36.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.63 and a beta of 1.24.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.74). The company 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 firm’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Highwoods Properties will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Highwoods Properties

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 184.7% during 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 last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties during the third quarter worth about $2,085,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Highwoods Properties by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 848,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,294,000 after acquiring an additional 58,634 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Highwoods Properties by 436.3% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 215,724 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,229,000 after acquiring an additional 175,499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 141.2% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 36,647 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,228,000 after acquiring an additional 21,455 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

About Highwoods Properties

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.