Highwoods Properties, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 (NYSE:HIW)

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 17th, NASDAQ reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, June 11th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th.

Highwoods Properties has increased its dividend payment by an average of 1.4% annually over the last three years. Highwoods Properties has a payout ratio of 487.8% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Highwoods Properties to earn $3.53 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.7%.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

NYSE:HIW opened at $23.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 1.23. Highwoods Properties has a 1-year low of $17.06 and a 1-year high of $26.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HIW. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. KBC Group NV bought a new stake in Highwoods Properties in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 76.6% in the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Highwoods Properties in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Highwoods Properties by 165.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.