Short Interest in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Decreases By 11.2%

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,420,000 shares, a decline of 11.2% from the January 15th total of 4,980,000 shares. Approximately 4.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 954,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HIW shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Highwoods Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.71.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Highwoods Properties

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HIW. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 375.0% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 855 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Highwoods Properties during the third quarter worth about $48,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 124.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,434 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,351 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 363.7% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 2,331 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Highwoods Properties Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:HIW traded down $0.32 on Tuesday, hitting $28.86. The company had a trading volume of 931,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 905,637. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Highwoods Properties has a 1 year low of $23.12 and a 1 year high of $36.78.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.85. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 17.40% and a return on equity of 6.05%. Equities analysts anticipate that Highwoods Properties will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.93%. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is 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.