Kestra Investment Management LLC Takes $708,000 Position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 21,135 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $708,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Highwoods Properties by 141.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,073 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 269.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 2,350 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Highwoods Properties by 55.8% during 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 buying an additional 1,167 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,206 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 35.1% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,114 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on HIW. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.20.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

Shares of HIW opened at $32.46 on Monday. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $18.56 and a one year high of $36.78. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of 24.22 and a beta of 1.26.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.74). The firm had revenue of $204.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.16%. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is 149.25%.

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.