Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Boosts Stock Position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. $HIW

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 3.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,302,750 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 205,761 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.06% of Highwoods Properties worth $200,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HIW. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 2.9% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 13,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 9,146 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC boosted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 12,205 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Highwoods Properties by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 98,051 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,048,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optas LLC increased its stake in Highwoods Properties by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 8,565 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HIW has been the topic of several analyst reports. New Street Research set a $30.00 price objective on Highwoods Properties in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Highwoods Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Highwoods Properties in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.75.

Highwoods Properties Stock Up 1.2%

HIW stock opened at $27.52 on Tuesday. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.18 and a fifty-two week high of $32.76. The business’s 50-day moving average is $26.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52 and a beta of 1.07.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 5.48% and a net margin of 15.98%.The business had revenue of $201.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Highwoods Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.410-3.45 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 170.94%.

Highwoods Properties Profile

Highwoods Properties, Inc is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, leases and manages office properties. The company’s portfolio is primarily focused on Class A office space, with an emphasis on high-quality buildings in key urban and suburban submarkets. Highwoods seeks to generate long-term, recurring revenues through a mix of in-place lease renewals, strategic dispositions and build-to-suit developments. Its asset management platform drives operational efficiencies and tenant service initiatives across its holdings.

Founded in 1970 and headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, Highwoods Properties has expanded its presence to eight major metropolitan regions across the Southeastern United States and Texas.