Analysts Set Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Target Price at $25.00

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.00.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $31.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Highwoods Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $27.00 to $22.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 30th. Bank of America lowered shares of Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, November 13th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Highwoods Properties in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 1st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Highwoods Properties

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 14.1% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 28,170 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,289,000 after acquiring an additional 3,480 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties during the first quarter valued at approximately $215,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 34.0% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 67,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,101,000 after purchasing an additional 17,208 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 11.1% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 38,442 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after purchasing an additional 3,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 5.8% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 144,790 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,847,000 after purchasing an additional 7,918 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

HIW stock opened at $18.84 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. Highwoods Properties has a 52 week low of $17.06 and a 52 week high of $31.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.70 and its 200 day moving average is $21.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 1.21.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 17th. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is 155.04%.

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.